


Blood Lust

by delfiend



Series: Steven Universe Supernatural AU [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Monster Hunters, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Hunters, Alternate Universe - Vampire, F/F, It's not totally explicit it just... gets there at some point mkay, Magic, Monster Hunters, Multi, Were-Creatures, i'm warning you now, idk - Freeform, it may be the death of you, there is angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-27
Updated: 2018-05-03
Packaged: 2018-08-17 13:11:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 21
Words: 99,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8145268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delfiend/pseuds/delfiend
Summary: Meet Peridot, a young vampire trying to fit into a supernatural-hating world, and her best and only friend Amethyst, a werewolf with a lot more experience with the cruelty of the world at large than Peridot. Everything seems like it's going to stay how it's always been... until Peridot gets new neighbors and everything changes. For better or for worse, she has yet to find out. But in a city whose supernatural paranoia is escalating well beyond the point seeing reason, "for worse" seems the more likely course.





	1. A Night in the Town

In a darkened apartment, lit up by the fluctuating blue glow of a computer monitor, the only sound the mashing of keyboard keys and the frantic clicking of a mouse among a symphony of a crinkling chip bag, the crunch of Doritos, and the _click-hiss_ of a newly opened can of Mountain Dew, a phone began to ring. The tone was that of a poor quality audio file of someone screaming at the top of their lungs in the background while the foremost sound of the file was breathless chortling. _Peridot I’m going to kill you!! Get back here with my phone!!!! You’re dead Peri, I mean it!! You’re—_ the ringtone cut short as a hand mashed the answer button and brought the phone to the vice between an ear and a shoulder, hand returning to the keyboard eagerly.

“Hey Amethyst, what’s up?” The composure in Peridot’s voice was in stark contrast with the state of her life: forty-eight hours without leaving her apartment, five weeks since she had done anything about the laundry piling up in every nook and cranny, at least a week since she had eaten an actual meal, a total of six hours of sleep in the last few days, the majority of which were involuntary naps at her computer…

“Yo P,” Amethyst said through something of a yawn. “We’re still going out tonight, right? You’re not bailing on me again are you?”

“Meh,” Peridot shrugged noncommittally, her eyes glued to computer screen as she tried not to get her Overwatch character brutally murdered by the other players. “I don’t know.”

“You’re _not_ , by the way,” Amethyst’s voice lowered to a threatening growl. “We’re going _out_ and we’re going to have _fun_!”

A slew of profanities came from Peridot as her character was killed out of nowhere, the springs in her mouse zinging as she violently clicked all the right buttons to quit the game. There was a long pause as Peridot just stared at her desktop home screen, the classic “I Want To Believe” meme with the grainy photo of a UFO over a pine forest. Amethyst’s muffled chuckling through the phone brought Peridot back to reality.

“Who got you?”

“Some _fucking_ McCree!!” Peridot growled in frustration, twirling around in her swivel chair and leaving her view of her computer behind for the first time in fourteen hours, taking the phone into her hand and rolling the tension out of her shoulders.

Amethyst snorted. “That’s what you get for playing a much too offensive Junkrat, P.”

“It wouldn’t have been a problem if _you_ were playing with me!” Peridot retorted, concealing a loneliness in her accusations.

“Yeah, well, I was _working_.” Amethyst thickened her voice in childish mockery. “We can’t all hole ourselves up all day long like you, Peri.”

“Yeah, well, we can’t all go out whenever we feel like it..!” Peridot’s reply came out a bit too sharply than she would have liked. She hoped it would all go over Amethyst’s head, but it didn’t.

“I-I didn’t mean to—…”

“No, Amethyst, it’s fine,” Peridot corrected quickly, sounding as nonchalant as she knew how to. “You know it’s fine. I know it’s fine. Everything is perfectly fine!” She wasn’t good with sympathy. She didn’t want to deal with it. Not now. Not from Amethyst of all people.

“Alright, alright..!” Amethyst was quick to return their conversation to topic. “So we’re going out, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Peridot replied, then instantly regretted it as Amethyst squealed in delight, her hand pulling her phone away from her ear as if it had burned her. “Geez Amethyst!!”

“I know this great spot in town! It’s got great reviews from my friends at work _aaaand_ it’s even Peri-friendly!”

Peri-friendly. Peridot rolled her eyes. As if she was the only one…

“What time are we—..?”

“Meet me at the burger joint. You know, the grungy one across from that run-down theatre where they book all the local rock gigs?”

“Yeah. So we’re getting burgers first?” Peridot had to admit, the Doritos and Mountain Dew alone didn’t really slack her hunger after day three.

“You know it! See you then Peri!”

“Amethyst wait—!!” Peridot practically screeched into her phone. “What _time_?!”

“Right now you dork!” Amethyst laughed, hanging up the phone before Peridot could ask any of her four dozen sudden and burning questions.

Peridot indulged in a loud groan of frustration, head falling back and shoulders slumping forward, fingers tensing as if trying to crush the air. It was _so_ like Amethyst to pull this kind of stunt. It was also so like Amethyst to overlook the most important of details. Peridot pulled up a weather report on her phone, taking note of the dip in temperature that was due in the night and searching for the moon phase. Waxing gibbous; just a little past a half-moon. Peridot slid her phone back onto her desk and set about trying to pull and outfit together from the mess of mildew-infested clothes strewn about the room. Nothing really _didn’t_ smell, so she just settled for an oversized hoodie and some fairly dry jeans, dosing herself in a middle school amount of Axe body spray to cover up the cling of sweat and mildew and old cheese and blood. The Axe was just as unbearable, but at least it was the sort of unbearable smell that was somehow socially acceptable. A phone, wallet, apartment keys, and hasty brush through her hair later, Peridot was out the door and moseying her way down the stairwell.

It was raining. Of course it was raining. Peridot pulled a disgusted face and put up her hood, crushing her messy, gravity-defying hair around her face at several odd angles. The burger joint was several blocks away. Peridot ducked her head as the rain came down in fat, lazy droplets, rendering her soaked before she could even walk the first block. But despite how it soaked through her clothes and set a damp chill into her bones that would take hours to thaw out, Peridot admittedly enjoyed the rain. The way the clouds gathered all black and blue and grey and colored the atmosphere in their moody pallet, the thickness to the air as it traveled wild and frantic with the sudden winds, even the white-noise symphony of the rain itself was pleasing in any tempo and from any surface it fell onto. Even as the rain chose to come down onto Peridot, she appreciated the soft taps on her drawn-up shoulders and hunched back, the drip of water from off her fingertips. Maybe it was just the way the rain appealed to her extraordinarily sharp senses. Maybe she was just a tortured poet who had yet to compose a piece. Maybe she was just a clod who should hurry up and take shelter in the grungy burger joint now just a block away.

Peridot settled for that last one.

As she ducked inside the door to the dirty old joint, Peridot was hoping to find some relief from the constant soaking of the rain. Instead, she was met by a wall of overzealous air-conditioning. The shivering began immediately.

“Yo P!”

Peridot looked up from her self-reflective misery to find Amethyst was already there, already working her way through four burgers. Peridot skulked over to join her, whole body wracked by shivers so bad her teeth chattered audibly.

“I got your usual,” Amethyst smiled, sliding the tinfoil-wrapped burger across to her friend. “Cheeseburger, just cheese and extra pickles.”

“Th-Th-Thanks….” Peridot managed, reaching for her wallet.

“Not necessary, P-man. I know you broke.” Amethyst winked cheekily as she took a half-a-burger sized bite out of her burger. Juice dripped off the back and onto the tinfoil mat she had created, the oozing stuff a mixture of condiments and… blood.

“D-D-Did you g-get them raw ag-gain?” Peridot rolled her eyes, inspected her own burger to ensure it was fully cooked. The last thing she needed was food poisoning, and knowing the joint they were eating at, eating raw meat here was as good as a guarantee.

“I got them _rare_ , buzzkill,” Amethyst replied haughtily. “S’fine. I can take whatever’s in these things.”

“I’m sure you can,” Peridot grumbled, finding the best angle on her burger and diving in for a first bite. Then a second. And a third. When was the last time she had eaten again…? “And I’m not _broke_ , by the way. I’m getting on just fine.”

“Yeah, until your scholarship dries up. And believe me, it’ll dry up _fast_.” Amethyst knew what she was talking about. Hers could do little more than buy her hamburgers anymore. Not that it mattered to Amethyst. She had a job.

“I have a job too you know…” Peridot added a bit bitterly as she paused to rearrange the pickles on her burger so there’d be at least one in every bite. “A number of them, in fact. Small gigs, part time. But they still pay.”

“What, that thing you have cleaning the bar downtown and the valet deal?” Amethyst couldn’t help but smile patronizingly.

“ _And_ the late night shift at the movies! On big premiere nights…”

“Hey, that’s great Peri!” Amethyst realized this was all quickly sending her friend into a mood and jumped to recover it. “That movie one sounds fun! Do you get to stand at the back of a theatre and watch the films..?”

Peridot found herself smiling a bit. “Yeah, I do.”

“Oh man! That’s not even fair! They literally _pay_ you to watch movies!”

“Well, they pay me to clean up after…” Peridot corrected with a shrug.

“Still,” Amethyst sat back in her seat, unwrapping her third burger. “That’s a great job. I’m jealous. By the way, how’s the education going, Captain Night-School?”

“I'm, uh, I’m actually taking online classes now…” Peridot fiddled with her glasses, a habit of hers when she was embarrassed or uncomfortable. “Mrs. Garnet, my therapist, said she thought it’d be better for me if I learned to utilize my day-time hours more productively and put in more hours at my jobs.”

“Yeah? Mine, Ms. R. Quartz, put me into this group that meets weekly to do constructive projects for the community. I hate it. It’s so _boring_.”

“They all weres..?” Peridot inquired in a low voice. Amethyst nodded. “That’s badass, Amethyst.”

Amethyst’s mood on the subject did a three-sixty. “Yeah, I guess it is. But not as badass as my wrestling league!”

“You _got_ to take me to one of your matches!” Peridot begged grouchily. “I’ve already suffered through a hundred hours at the gym helping you ‘train’.”

“Sorry Peridot, but it’s sort of a weres only type deal.” She crossed her arms and turned away, holding the pose a minute longer as she watched Peridot’s face fall. “But I’ll pull some strings. For you.” She winked.

“Counterproposal: you finish those burgers and we get drinks and do something stupid.”

“ _Now_ you’re talking!”

The two of them weren’t long before they were back in the rain, hurrying down alleys to a more hidden side to the city. There were a whole couple of blocks where all the buildings were boarded up and abandoned. At least, they looked that way street-side. In the backs of these buildings were often secret entrances to far more secret establishments dedicated to the city’s underground, which was comprised mainly of the supernatural population, the sort of folks who generally weren’t welcome elsewhere because they were seen as a liability. It didn’t matter what laws had been set in place in the last decade. The supernatural community was still as unwelcome as ever, except among their own.

Amethyst took Peridot to a place the latter had never been to before. No surprise, considering Peridot hadn’t really been anywhere. She hadn’t been in the city for even a year, having moved in for summer school night classes several months back at the beginning of May. It was October now, and a rainy one at that. Amethyst had been in the city much longer, approaching her three year anniversary in November. She had met Peridot at the college where she was indulging in some of the summer-mester parties around campus. The two had been hanging out at least twice weekly ever since. Until Amethyst began working a little too much. Peridot hadn’t seen her in a week when she called to make plans to hang out, and it was another half a week before they actually met at the burger joint.

The location for the night was a bar, homey and a bit rustic with a fireplace and stuffed animal bodies decorating the walls. They stepped inside, wringing out their soaked and wet clothes as a bouncer approached them; well, Peridot specifically.

“You’re new. Haven’t seen you around before.”

“She’s with me, man, it’s cool,” Amethyst answered dismissively.

“It’s cool,” Peridot reassured her friend, taking out her wallet and producing one of three of her IDs; one was her ligament ID, with her real age and SUPERNATURAL CITIZEN plastered all over it, another was a fake that gave her real age but conveniently left out the supernatural parts, and the third—which she showed the bouncer—was the same as her real ID but with her age listed as 22.

The bouncer noticed the supernatural label and hardly glanced at the age before nodding Peridot along. She followed Amethyst as they made their way to the bar closest to the fireplace and got comfy.

The bartender came over cleaning a glass, a tired looking man with the stench of death about him. Peridot knew better than to make assumptions about the man’s supernatural identity, but she had a few theories already forming unwillingly in the back of her mind.

“What are you having tonight..?” His voice droned on long past his words.

“I’ll do a coke and rum, extra rum,” Amethyst grinned excitedly.

“I’ll take a late night bloody mary,” Peridot said, lowering her voice a bit out of habit.

“Have a preference?” The man didn’t seem at all phased. Of course not. Why would he be? It was a supernaturals bar after all…

“O, if you have it,” Peridot replied; she was going to treat herself tonight, much to the obvious delight of Amethyst, who wiggled her eyebrows appreciatively. “What percentages do you offer..?”

“In O, we have 8%, 20%, and 80%.”

Wow, Peridot thought, eighty percent O!! “I’ll take the 20, please.”

The man disappeared without another word.

“Oh man, P! Twenty percent O?! Correct me if I’m wrong, but someone’s going all fancy expensive tonight!”

Peridot shrugged, trying to sound cool about it. “What can I say? I’ve sort of been neglecting my intake recently…”

Amethyst snorted, ending up in a fit of giggles. “So you’re saying you’re a shitty vampire; what’s new?”

Peridot rolled her eyes to the moon and back, buddying up with her drink as it hit the bar and glaring at Amethyst in endless loathing as she drank through a straw. Amethyst, on the other hand, practically chugged down her coke and rum, promptly ordering herself another and a round of shots for the both of them. Peridot’s glare intensified. She didn’t need shots. She didn’t _want_ shots. Not only was she awful at holding her liquor, but her bloody mary was bound to already have her beyond intoxicated by the time she was done with it. Peridot was one heck of a lightweight. That, and the addition of blood to her alcohol meant there was practically no delay from the moment the alcohol slid to her stomach and the moment it hit her blood stream. Admittedly, she was already feeling a bit fuzzy and woozy.

The shots came out with Amethyst’s second drink, two for each of them. She slid Peridot her fair share, more than aware of the disgusted and rather distasteful expression on her younger friend’s face. She always noted the extreme flush in her cheeks and her pupils adjusting quite sluggishly to the change in lighting caused by the crackling fire. Amethyst couldn’t help but snort again.

“Man, if I could get drunk off of one drink Peri, I’d be able to afford a new apartment.”

“Shhhhut up…” Peridot grumbled, hugging her drink closer as Amethyst edged the shots into to her reach.

“On three!” Amethyst’s eyes were lit up with anticipation.

“Nooo….” Peridot whined, fangs prominent from her consumption of blood.

“Two!” Amethyst cheered.

Peridot groaned as she took the first shot up in her hand.

“Three!”

She groaned as she took the shot glass off the bar and groaned as she tipped it into her mouth. She probably would have kept groaning if she hadn’t gagged horribly as the alcohol burned down her throat and sat uncomfortably painful in the pit of her stomach. She was immediately chasing it with a long draught of her bloody mary, eyes screwed up tight as to keep herself from gagging everything back up. Amethyst was patting her back comfortingly.

“Hey, good job Peri!” She grinned. “Much better than last time!”

Peridot nearly lost her lunch at the thought of “last time”, watching appreciatively as Amethyst downed her second shot and stole back Peridot’s second, making it her third and shuddering as the burning liquid went down not-so-smooth.

It wasn’t long before Peridot was slurping the last of her bloody mary lazily, giggling maniacally at the sound. Amethyst was finishing her fifth coke and rum, a half dozen shot glasses upturned on the bar counter. She turned to Peridot suddenly, glazed-over eyes shining like firecrackers.

“Let’s go bowling!” She proposed with hefty enthusiasm.

Peridot’s eyes went huge in agreement. “Yeeeeessssss!”

Amethyst looked contemplative for a second, then came back with twice the zeal as before.

“No!!” She huffed.

“No…” Peridot echoed meekly, whole mood shifting to mimic Amethyst’s.

“Let’s go _wrestling!!_ ”

Peridot’s eyes practically turned to stars in absolute adoration. “YYYYEEEESSSSS!!!!”

It took the two of them, determined as they were, a solid five minutes to locate the door to the bar and leave, leaning all over each other just to put one foot in front of the other. Amethyst was discombobulated for sure, but her balance was as sturdy as ever. But Peridot could hardly stand, let alone walk, and it took all of Amethyst’s distorted coordination to keep the both of them upright. They had told the bartender to put it all on Amethyst’s tab. Amethyst was pretty sure she didn’t have a tab.

The rain had let up for a few minutes, leaving the fumbling vampire and her giggling werewolf friend to splash about in the puddles as they headed down the street to where Amethyst sort of remembered the gym being. Four blocks later, she sort of remembered it being in a different direction entirely. Three blocks in a new direction and it started to rain again, startling the both of them beyond reason.

“What the—!?” Amethyst glared up at the sky. “The fuck is this?”

A drop landed on Peridot and she hissed dramatically, crying out in mock pain. “Oh Amethyst!" She slurred in something of a sob. “I’m _melllltiiiiing!_ ”

“Fuck!!” Amethyst eyed her friend in wide-eyed horror.

Peridot continued to “melt” as the rain came down harder, eventually losing her balance and ending flat on her back on the sidewalk, taking advantage of her new position to shut her eyes and stick out her tongue, playing dead. Amethyst got to her knees, cursing up at the sky.

“How could you do this to me, rain!?” She sobbed grossly. “How could you take Peri away from me!? The Peridactyl! The P-man! P-dizzle! Peri Peri Quite Contrary!”

Peridot couldn’t help but snicker at some of her nicknames, throwing both herself and Amethyst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter, both on their back on the sidewalk, both getting soaked in the downpour.

“What were we doing again..?” Amethyst asked, pushing her soaked hair out of her face.

Peridot shrugged clumsily, her laughter subsiding into a bout of intense hiccups.

They both just sort of lay there, the rain having long since turned their clothes to sopping wet rags and their hair weighed heavy on the concrete. But in the dead of night, with the city lights twinkling, the rain tickling their faces, the quiet hush of night mingling with the sudden and intense bursts of nightlife, and the blissful fog of their intoxicated states, there was nothing either of them decided they’d rather do more than just remain in the moment, letting it drag on for an eternity.

“Hey Peridot…?” Amethyst’s voice was quiet; well, attempted quietness.

“Yeah..?” Peridot arched her neck to look at her friend beside her on the ground, rain falling into her eyes.

“Do vampires actually melt in sunlight…?”

Peridot was silent. “I mean, I haven’t known anyone to test it out for shits and giggles…”

“Fair…” Amethyst shrugged, then turned on her side, facing Peridot, their faces only inches apart. “Peridot. Real talk.”

Peridot rolled over with some difficulty onto her stomach, face resting between her two hands, elbows propped up on the ground and feet kicking. “Shoot.”

“You and me, we gotta be careful. The world doesn’t like people like us. We gotta look out for each other. We gotta stay safe. You know that right..?”

“No, yeah, I know that…” Peridot frowned intensely, sudden sobriety breaking through the haze.

“No, but you don’t get it,” Amethyst glared darkly. “You haven’t been in the city long. It’s not like whatever little suburb you came from. People _don’t_ want to get to know you. They _don’t_ want to coexist with you. People here, they want us gone. And when we don’t leave, they get pissed, and they get violent.”

“Hunters,” Peridot breathed fearfully, feeling herself begin to shake fearfully.

“Yeah, hunters,” Amethyst snarled, her eyes turning a feral yellow with anger. “Absolute savages. They’re worse than even the most out of control supernaturals!”

Peridot nodded in agreement, feeling her shoulders tense up at the thought of being stalked and killed like so many other supernaturals of the century.

“Let’s get out of here…” Amethyst mumbled bitterly, getting to her feet and helping Peridot to hers.

Wordlessly, the two of them made their way down the street towards Peridot’s apartment complex. It was a long walk, cold and damp from the relentless rain, but it did wonders to sober the both of them up. Peridot was still slightly buzzed from her blood consumption alone by the time they reached her building, pausing outside.

“This was fun,” She smiled at Amethyst. “Thanks for nagging me out of my home.”

Amethyst winked cheekily. “Anytime P. Hey, want to meet up on Wednesday? I heard there’s going to be this underground grungy rock show at the old abandoned warehouse down by the docks.”

“Yeah,” Peridot grinned. “Yeah, that’ll be fun!”

“Like hell it will!” Amethyst snickered, grabbing her friend in a headlock and digging her knuckles playfully into her hair.

“Fuck off!!” Peridot snarled, wrestling free of her friend’s hold and trying to fix her now tangled wet mess of hair with a damaged look plastered purposefully on her face. “You’re an awful friend, Amethyst.”

“But I’m your only friend!” She winked and shot finger guns at Peridot.

Peridot flipped her the bird and stuck her tongue out in crude expression, turning to disappear inside her building with Amethyst’s snorting laughter echoing in her ears.

“See ya, P!”

“Bye…”

As she sulked her way to the stairwell, ratty old converse shoes squeaking loudly and slipping all over the floor, clothes dripping puddles in her wake, Peridot couldn’t help but feel a little self-conscious about her number of friends. She knew Amethyst hadn’t meant to be mean when she pointed out that she was Peridot’s only friend, but the truth of the statement cut the vampire to the core. She hadn’t met anyone in her night classes that had ended up sticking as anything more than classmates, and now that she was taking online courses only, Peridot had precious little ways to make new friends. No one at her part-time jobs was looking to make friends. No one who ever chatted her up at her job at _The Ruby and The Sapphire_ , the human bar downtown, was ever the sort worth keeping around. Not to mention her apartment building was a bunch of aging, retired singles, young couples ready to split over a pack of cigarettes, and a smaller but far shiftier crowd whose rooms always smelled faintly of something dangerous and illegal whenever Peridot passed them in the hall. Not to mention that half the apartments in the building were almost constantly empty. Because no one _ever_ moved in—

“Oops! Watch yourself there little buddy!”

Peridot stared in slack-jawed shock. The first words that came to mind to describe what she saw were bear-wrestler and cross-fit extraordinaire. The red-headed woman absolutely _towered_ over the 5’2” Peridot, close to what Peridot could only imagine was 6’2”, maybe more. And she was hefting… boxes?

“You alright there short-stack?” The woman smiled, but it was the sort of smile that made Peridot feel even smaller where she stood, all predatory and demeaning.

“S-S-Sorry…” She stuttered, practically magnetizing herself to the wall as she let the woman past her into the stairwell, eyes following her as she climbed down to the ground floor with her empty boxes.

Baffled to say the least, Peridot slowly pried herself from the wall and began to squelch her way down the hall to her apartment. As she did, she passed one of the apartments she knew to be empty with the door wide open. Her feet carried her past, but her eyes lingered, spotting towers of boxes inside. _Had someone moved in?_ she wondered. _Probably that giant of a woman_ … Peridot rolled her eyes and fished around for her keys in her pockets.

“Oh, hi..!”

Peridot turned back down the hall, feeling her whole body turn rigid as she eyed the woman who had spoken up. The-very-definition-of-blue hair, tight aquamarine tank top, even tighter black yoga pants capris… Peridot’s chest felt just as tight.

“I thought I heard Jasper talking to someone.” She flashed a smile on her nonchalant features, and Peridot heard herself stutter inaudibly in her throat. “You live on this floor..?”

“Y-Yeah..!!” Peridot’s voice bound out of her mouth with too much enthusiasm, immediately drawing a huge blush to her cheeks; her voice lowered to little more than a bitter mumble as she gestured to her door. “I live right, um, right here…”

“Oh, cool!” The words were scarcely out of the woman’s mouth and Peridot already took them as gospel. “We live in this place here.” She let out a little snicker to herself and shrugged. “Obviously.”

Peridot found herself laughing _way_ too much at the comment, snapping her mouth shut as soon as she realized. Then regretted the awkward silence that followed. She suddenly regretted existing. The woman gave a small smile, which Peridot couldn’t tell was from mild amusement or disingenuous sympathy.

“I’m Lapis, by the way. Lapis Ann Lazuli. That monster that lives with me is Jasper, just Jasper, like Cher. Though she’s nothing like Cher.”

Peridot could tell by the sidelong glance Lapis gave her that she _meant_ that to be funny, but Peridot had clasped her mouth too tight to laugh again. Lapis’ face fell just a bit, the smile retreating behind that neutral, nonchalant expression that appeared to Peridot to be her natural state. Peridot couldn’t stand the silence a moment longer, regretting not laughing more than she had regretted laughing in the first place.

“I’m Peridot!” She squawked, voice hitching a bit from the hiccups that apparently were only lying dormant, awaiting the least opportune time to strike again. “I live with this obnoxious chick named Peridot. Real doozy, that one…”

Lapis laughed, a breathy and beautiful sound like an ocean breeze, or what Peridot imagined an ocean breeze would sound like.

“Well, I can’t wait to meet this roommate of yours,” Lapis stated with soft sarcasm, the easy smile returning to her face. Peridot felt as if she had just won the world series of… something.

“I don’t know,” Peridot shrugged stiffly, having to remind herself to breathe. “She’s kind of an idiot around other people…”

“Well she sounds like she’s pretty cute to me,” Lapis replied smooth as velveteen silk coated in honey, flashing a playful wink so subtle Peridot feared she might have just imagined it.

Peridot stood there, absolutely dumbstruck. Not a single word, clever or otherwise, was coming to her mind. In fact, her mind had gone completely blank, and Peridot swore she could hear the monotone hum of a disconnected phone sounding in her head. Thankfully, Lapis cut back in before the dumbfounded silence could continue another humiliating second.

“Hey, I got to keep unpacking, but it was nice to meet you Peridot! We could get lunch or something one of these days.”

“Yeah! I’d like that!” Peridot replied immediately, honestly believing she _had_ to be dreaming, that any minute she’d wake up back at the bar drowning in her own drool.

“See you around neighbor!” Lapis laughed just a bit, waving as she ducked back into her apartment.

Peridot hurried to unlock her door and dive into the privacy of her own apartment, practically falling inside the moment the door gave way and scrambling to get it shut behind her. There was no sound but the aching pound of her heart in her ears, and her internal monologue of a single, continuous scream. What in the hell was going on!? Peridot thought hard to conjure an image of Lapis, already missing getting to stare at her uninterrupted. She wished she had been closer so all the little details of her were clear. Peridot suddenly jolted to her feet, pinching the skin on her arm. She didn’t feel a thing, having gone numb from the rain and the chill of the apartment air conditioning. Alarm bells filling up her head, she quickly scrambled to yank the battery from her mouse and licked it. The battery flew from her hands as it shocked her tongue in a white-hot little jolt. Her tongue felt singed, but Peridot had succeeded in proving she wasn’t dreaming. And that she was a total idiot...

She rushed to her door, cracking it open just enough to jam a single eyeball in the opening and look down the hall. Lapis was still there, handing a stack of empty boxes to Jasper, who had returned.

Peridot wasn’t dreaming and yet the dream girl was still very much real.

She shut the door and collapsed against it, head spinning. It suddenly occurred to her that she had promised her dream girl _lunch_. Peridot groaned out loud, clawing down her face in anguish. She couldn’t _do_ lunch! The sun exposure would kill her.

Peridot’s eyes wandered to where all her clothes lay piled up in a stinking mess. She had quite a lot of coats. Well, the sun exposure would _supposedly_ kill her...

And besides, lunch with the dream girl was definitely something Peridot was willing to risk dying for. The image of Lapis’ face as she sneakily called Peridot cute crept into her head, bringing a whole new wave of blushes to her face. Most definitely worth the risk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like it so far? Let me know in the comments below what you think and any predictions you might have! I'd love to hear them!!! :D :D


	2. One Room Or Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Peridot's first day living with the new neighbors down the hall. And it's off to a rough start...

From the moment Peridot pried her heavy eyelids apart, her morning became one big amalgamation of regret. Light spilled through her window from between crooked venetian blinds, stretching just far enough to fall into Peridot’s eyes, sending a sharp stab of pain from her temple to the back of her skull. _Hangover_ , she reasoned bitterly, before running her tongue through her desert-dry mouth and realizing it was much worse.

To put it simply, Peridot had overdid it.

On the blood, that is. For vampires like Peridot—who were really more like humans with a vampirism disorder than the true, full-blooded vampires of old—blood consumption was akin to a vitamin supplement. Peridot only needed a little blood every day, or a decent amount all at once to last her through the week. However, if that had been the entirety of it, vampires would simply chug gallons of the stuff and not have to drink again for a year. The problem arose when one took into account the straight up addictiveness of human blood. Sure, Peridot’s body _needed_ blood to function properly, but too much of it and the dependency started right off the bat. What she was feeling as she pulled her covers over her head to block out the light _wasn’t_ a hangover. It was withdrawal.

The protruding fangs loitering casually inside her mouth were what tipped her off.  After close to twenty years of living with her vampirism, Peridot had come to understand that her fangs acted very similar to a boner. Most of the time, something would trigger the fangs to extend, be it the consumption of blood or the pressing need to consume blood so as to slack a deficiency. The very proximity of blood often set her off too, the smell of which keyed her most primitive instincts; these instincts were easily suppressed under the simplest of self-control, thankfully, and with them the fangs. But sometimes, like a boner, the fangs just… _happened_. There was nothing to trigger them, no rhyme or reason for them to be out. But all of a sudden there they were, in all their identity-revealing glory. Sure, in time they would retract once more until triggered, but today, Peridot’s morning fangs were no accident. Every last fiber of her being was aching for more blood after her splurge at the bar. Peridot smashed her pillow over her face and hoped beyond hope the feeling would pass, hissing in frustration and pain alike.

In all honestly, Peridot _knew_ she had been stupid about her choices the night before. The facts were clear as day to her now, and they _should_ have been clear at the bar too. For one, it had been more than a week since her last intake of blood, which meant she was naturally low on whatever hormone or vitamin or whatever sort of molecule resulting from blood consumption that kept her feeling normal and healthy. Then she went and ordered O blood, the richest and purest of the blood on account of the lack of antigens. Not only that, but she had ordered twenty-percent O, which meant that the blood compound used in her drink was twenty-percent human blood, the other eighty-percent composed of animal bloods and blood substitutes and iron supplement. And twenty-percent, by Peridot standards, was flat out _rich_. She normally found herself drinking 5% mixtures on a twice-weekly basis in the name of affordability.

In short, Peridot had gone overboard in most overboard of ways. And now she was battling addiction, however minor. Or major. To be honest, Peridot had no clue just _how_ bad she had fucked up. The withdrawal symptoms might fade away as the day progressed. They might also worsen until she was dry-heaving into the next morning. Drinking some more blood would make things better in the short term—just a little bit to take the edge off the pain—but Peridot had seen firsthand just how fast and violent of a road blood-addiction was for vampires. She had lost the majority of her family to it, far more than she had lost to hunters. No, she could tough it out. She could beat this. She had to try.

The pain was all Peridot could notice. The pounding in her skull, the hypersensitivity crawling over her skin, the cling of Axe-stench that sent knives through her temple with each whiff, the tight knot that was her stomach, the agonized curl in her toes, the trembling of her whole person… Peridot was quick to lose track of the time, not sure if she had been laying in her bed for ten minutes, an hour, or a whole day. It felt close to an eternity. An eternity of hell, more specifically. Peridot might have just continued to lay there, at the edge of sleep but kept away by the periodic _zings_ of pain rushing through her head and the overall achy feeling all over her body, if it hadn’t been for the sudden commotion from the hallway. Voices. Slamming doors. Peridot was immediately tripping through her layers of sheets and blankets, dragging them behind her as she ran smack into her apartment door and pressed her ear to the wood, the state of her person momentarily forgotten as her curiosity latched onto whatever was happening beyond somewhere down the hall.

“—just like you, Lapis! Honestly!!”

“Oh _grow up_ , Jasper!!”

Peridot’s heart tried to leap out of her throat, but she swallowed it back down with difficulty. They were arguing! She had almost completely forgotten about her new neighbors, and now they were arguing! But about _what_ , exactly..? Peridot held her breath to hear better. There was honestly no need. She was certain the two could be heard from the next three floors in either direction.

“No!! No I won’t stand for it!”

“Well that’s what’s happening and you’re just going to have to _deal with it_!!”

“Fuck no!!” Jasper’s voice boomed like an old-timey cannon. “Waffles are so much _easier_!!”

“Yeah well pancakes are _better_!!!” Lapis yelled back with surprising volume.

Peridot’s hand smacked into her face as she suddenly and completely felt like the world’s biggest idiot. They were arguing... about _breakfast_. Peridot got back to her feet, gathering her wild tangle of blankets about her as she shuffled back towards her bed, rolling her tongue languidly over her fangs as if the contact might scare them back into retracting.

_Bam! Bam! Bam!_

Her heart stopped for a full second in her chest as the hair on her neck and head stood straight up at the startling sound, turning her stiffened body around slowly to look at her door from which the heavy knocks were emanating. What in the…?

“Lapis, this is stupid!” Jasper huffed bitterly, just behind the paper-thin door.

“Shut up!!” Lapis retorted bitingly.

_Bam! Bam!_

“Coming!” Peridot squeaked in panic, working hard not to lisp around her fangs; she had never really gotten used to talking properly while they were out.

She shuffled back towards the door, not bothering to shed the portable bed from around her shoulders. Making a point to clamp her mouth shut and blink exhaustion back into her eyes, Peridot swung the door open and came face to face with her new neighbors, filling up her doorway. Jasper wore a pair of dark grey flannel pants adorned with racing flames stretching up from around her ankles, and a loose tank top that read _FUCK OFF_ in big angry letters; her red hair was somehow even wilder than it had been the night before when Peridot met her. Lapis was wearing nothing but an oversized powder blue nightshirt, under which Peridot hoped were some sort of shorts… or maybe she hoped there _wasn’t_ anything at all. Peridot turned quite flustered from her own mind poking about the gutter, quickly shaking such thoughts from her head. Lapis’ blue hair was the very definition of bedhead just as much as it was the very definition of blue. And she had freckles, Peridot finally got to notice. For some reason, that small little detail made Peridot feel all bubbly inside. _She_ had freckles, too! Did that make them soulmates, or…?

“Hi Peridot.” Lapis smiled so sweetly Peridot almost forgot how obnoxiously she had pounded the door in.

“Hi…” Peridot mumbled, not so much out of sleepiness as it was to keep her mouth as closed as possible. Her fangs ached like four big sweet tooth’s hungering for a very specific medium of glucose.

“Jasper and I were _just_ having something of a…” Lapis’ voice trailed off as she searched for the right words.

“Discussion,” Jasper offered flatly, leaning against the wall beside the door on her elbow, absolutely looming over both Peridot and Lapis.

“Argument,” Lapis chose very purposefully to piss Jasper off; the haughty smirk on her face said as much, as did Jasper’s not so subtle scowl. “Over the best breakfast food, that is.”

“Which is obviously waffles,” Jasper purred predatorily, poking an annoying finger at Lapis’ ear that was promptly and aggressively swatted away.

“Which is obviously _NOT_ waffles,” Lapis corrected viciously, giving Jasper a one-armed shove that did very little to budge the huge woman. “Peridot, what do _you_ think is the best breakfast food?”

This couldn’t be happening. This _honestly_ couldn’t be happening!! Peridot had a million and one ways she could shut both of her obnoxious neighbors down, but all of them required a little more conversation than she was willing to have with her fangs jutting out; flashing those bad boys was about as efficient at giving her identity away as wearing a shirt that said “ _Girl you’ve got to be O- ‘cause your just my type!_ ” _._

Peridot could tell by the expectant looks on both her neighbors’ faces that they weren’t about the leave her alone until she gave an answer. The obvious choice was to go with pancakes and get on Lapis’ good side, Peridot mused. But on the other hand… _not_ giving Jasper a reason to stomp on her intp powder was _also_ a wise option…

Peridot reached up to rub at her eyes, successfully blocking her their view of her mouth with the blankets gathered about her as she answered. “Honestly, I’m more of a French toast kind of gal…” She clamped her mouth shut again and dropped her hand naturally so as not to appear to be hiding anything.

Peridot didn’t know she could regret something so utterly and immediately until just then. Her two neighbors glared haughtily with such intensity Peridot broke into a nervous, cold sweat. It seemed she hadn’t won any favor with Lapis, _and_ Jasper still looked ready to crush her into bits. Way to go Peri… way to go…

Not knowing how to handle the suddenly sour situation, Peridot just slammed the door shut with a wide-eyed expression of utter terror stuck on her face, clicking the lock firmly in place with fumbling fingers. There was a long pause of silence where she was sure her door would splinter into a million bits as Jasper rammed her way through. Then the arguing started up once more, drifting from Peridot’s door back to Lapis’ and Jasper’s apartment just down the hall, just as noisy and headache-triggering as before.

“Well that was a fucking waste of time!!” Jasper snarled.

“Seriously, the _fuck_!? French _fucking_ toast!?!” Lapis’ voice was pure anger, and then suddenly, it was nothing but breathless giggles. “Hey Jasp, I don’t suppose you want French toast instead..?”

Jasper let out a little _heh_ of amusement, voice losing its gritting edge. “Yeah, I mean, why the hell not? But we’ll have to run out and grab the best bread for the job.”

“Yeah,” Lapis’ distant voice was heard nodding sagely as she and her roommate wandered back down the hall. “Brioche, obviously.”

Peridot could hear Jasper psychically come to a halt, shaking the floor with the intensity of her full stop. “Um, are you serious right now?! It’s challah or nothing!!”

“ _FUCK no!!”_

And just like that, they were back to their full-volume arguing, the door to their apartment slamming shut behind them but doing very little to keep in the sound.

Needless to say, it was shaping up to be a _long_ day.

For Peridot, the day mainly consisted of attempting to brave through her withdrawal and be productive at the same time, a feat that left her with half-assed assignments drafted up and promptly scrapped and a headache worse than she imagined having a literal ax cleaving her head in two would feel like. Staring mindlessly at the two-hundred-some lines of code in her software project, hair crushed down around her face by her high-quality gaming headphones that had been playing nothing but soothing rain audio files for hours, Peridot found herself unable to comprehend what she was typing anymore. As a result, she mashed the save button and shoved against her desk with her feet, sending herself flying away from her desk on her swivel chair and ending up in her gnome-sized kitchen. A mostly-empty bottle of ibuprofen sat open beside the sink where Peridot had already visited it five or six times throughout the day, and she paddled with her feet to steer herself over. Turning the knob on her sink that squeaked and squealed with all sorts of protest, Peridot stuck her face under the stream of water and drank several big gulps, the sudden onslaught of liquids making her stomach churn and swell. She held the last mouthful of water in her cheeks and dropped in two more of the red ibuprofen pills, swallowing everything down with a displeasing shudder.

While she was in the kitchen, Peridot pulled open the fridge and stared complacently at the emptiness of the frigid unit: a box of Monster energy drinks, a box of Mountain Dew cans, a jar of pickles minus the pickles, an empty gallon jug where she usually kept her blood, and a door lined with the most obscure assortment of condiments and a veritable mountain of Chinese takeout soy sauce packets. Peridot stared a minute longer, wanting to make sure she conveyed her full and utter disappointment before snatching up one of the soy sauce packets, tearing a corner and licking up the salty liquid absentmindedly. Scooting her chair and herself back across the studio apartment to her desk, Peridot pulled out her phone and checked the time. She still had a number of hours before she had to leave for her job at _The Ruby and The Sapphire_ , a humans-only bar downtown. Well, _technically_ the bar didn’t have any rules _against_ supernaturals, it just so happened to be located in that part of the city that wasn’t too awful friendly to what supernaturals _did_ hang about. The important thing was… she still had several hours to go.

Leaning back in her chair and propping her feet on her desk, Peridot opened reddit on her phone. Next thing she knew, she was running late.

Peridot was the master of getting ready in a pinch, but even she had been a little too gutsy with stretching out her free time. She pulled on a pair of dark-wash skinny jeans with one hand while she yanked a brush through her hair with the other, feet kicking around in her mountain range of dirty clothes piles for a dress-code-appropriate top. Wiggling to edge her jeans up over her hips and her butt, Peridot finally slid the headphones from off her head and let them hang around her neck. Her ears were immediately met by the familiar sounds of Overwatch playing faintly down the hall, followed by a jarring scream of frustration.

“HA HA HA!!”

“FUCK YOU!!!”

“Oh, you’ve got to be shitting me!!” Peridot huffed a lot louder than she had anticipated. Lapis and Jasper. Had they even been quiet for _one_ second the whole day?

Normally, Peridot would have taken it upon herself as the apartment’s only semi-responsible tenant to give her new neighbors a good chewing out for their not-so-neighborly behavior. After all, it had been Peridot who solved the issue of the blasting shopping channel, also known as the tiny old lady who moved in not long after Peridot whose hearing aids had run out of battery. Peridot had gone pounding on her door to give a certain someone a hard time, and ended up fixing the hearing aids and accepting a batch of cookies the old lady insisted on gifting as a show of gratitude. But now, _right now_ , Peridot should have been halfway across the city all prim and proper for a night at her job. Instead, she was choking back the puke that barreled into her throat as she caught the scent of her black collared shirt she needed for work. She wasn’t so sure _what_ was growing in her laundry, but Peridot was certain it was close to gaining sentience and taking over the apartment. The smell was promptly masked under a shower of Axe.

Wrestling a brush through her hair with one hand as she desperately tried to yank on her second converse shoe on with the other, Peridot managed to snag her apartment keys off her desk with her mouth before she practically tumbled out into the hallway, shoe finally popping in place and hairbrush flying back into her room behind her. Taking only a brief, surprised second to appreciate the convenienceof it all, Peridot then hurried and locked her place up, padding down the hall towards the stairwell at full speed, whipping out her phone to check the time. Her heart turned to ice in her chest. She as late. Like, L A T E _late._ Mentally, Peridot was mapping out all the short cuts and alleys she could take to shorten her travel time. All the thinking and stressing and nail-biting—she snapped her hand back to her side when she caught herself—triggered her suppressed headache to return with a vengeance. Peridot let out a high-pitched groan, running both hands up into her thick, messy hair in a gesture of anguish. It was going to be a _long_ night…

After the fastest walk of her life, Peridot slipped through the back door of _The Ruby and The Sapphire_ , cringing horribly as the old metal door’s hinges yawned in a nails-on-chalkboard sort of way while it shut slowly and purposefully behind her. Peridot hardly had a moment to breathe before the bar owner appeared out of nowhere, a tall and spindly woman made up of one-hundred-percentage rage.

“Look who finally showed up!” She seethed in a shrill tone, shaking where she stood, pale eyes blazing and bobbed pink hair unusually imperfect.

Peridot wasn’t about to deal with this, not from her. “Where’s Mystery Girl?”

“ _Sheena_ is running late,” The woman responded with significantly less anger than before.

“So I’m not the only one,” Peridot couldn’t help but flash a self-indulgent smirk.

“No, but _I’m_ the only one getting this place in order!!” She was back to complete and total fury.

“Pearl, re- _lax_!” Peridot rolled her eyes, fixing her shirt collar by the reflection of herself in themtal refrigerator door. “It’s a fucking Sunday.”

Pearl stomped her foot somewhat. “Language!!”

“It’s a _fucking_ Sunday,” Peridot repeated with more conviction, turning to stare up at the taller woman, arms folded over her severely wrinkled black dress shirt.

“You’re impossible,” Pearl groaned, mothering the younger woman subconsciously as she did what she could to fix her hair and tuck her shirt into her jeans. “Utterly impossible.”

“And you’re the best, Pearl!” Peridot winked, realizing that the window for reprimanding had passed her by uneventfully.

Pearl glared half-heartedly, hands on her hips. “Don’t think I’m not telling Sheena about your tardiness. It’s _her_ job to deal with the likes of you!”

Peridot barred her teeth and hissed menacingly, hands held up like claws. Pearl jumped just enough to elicit a maniacal laugh out of Peridot. It was a laugh that very quickly turned to a panicked scream as Pearl grabbed a broom and pursued her vengefully around the the kitchen and into the bar itself.

“Woah! What did I miss?”

“ _Sheenaaaaa_!” Peridot dashed behind the woman for cover, placing her squarely between herself and the broom-wielding Pearl.

The pierced-lipped, pink-haired rebel of a woman flashed a half-lidded smile towards Pearl. “Oh hey Pearl.”

Pearl blushed wildly as she realized just how ridiculous she must look, hair a little too wild and broom in hand like a spear. “Hello…”

“I see getting the place ready to open is going well.” Unlike her business partner and _partner_ -partner, Sheena was much more light-hearted about... well, _everything_. She grinned easily, hauling Peridot from out behind her by the back of the smaller girl's shirt.

Peridot smiled innocently. “Very well…!”

Pearl just about growled. “She _just_ got here!”

“Lose track of time, P?” Sheena offered the up excuse very subtly. Peridot nodded, taking the excuse eagarly. “Understandable. Happens to me all the time. Hey, mind polishing off the bar?”

Peridot saluted, a big shit-eating grin plastered on her face from getting off scot-free. “Yes ma’am, Mystery Girl ma’am!”

“That’s _Captain Overlord_ Mystery Girl to you, fun-size.” Sheena winked, ignoring Pearl’s overzealous eye roll.

“Why do you still use that nickname?” Pearl asked tiredly, smoothing out her clothes as she leaned the broom against the bar.

“The patrons like it,” Sheena shrugged, drawing her girlfriend in with one smooth motion. “And I know _you_ like it.”

Peridot ducked into the back room to give the two of them a moment of privacy before Pearl left for the night; they didn’t _need_ it to be private to have their moment, but Peridot knew Pearl didn’t like to appear too unprofessional around her employees. And making out with the co-owner of the bar usually fell into the “unprofessional” category of behavior. Peridot snickered to herself as she caught the sound of a stammered “O-Oh..!” out of Pearl, making a mental reminder to high five Sheena later.

Though she had only been working at _The Ruby and The Sapphire_ since she moved to the city, Peridot considered the tiny little establishment to be her home away from home. There was something so familial about the way the heady stench of hops clung to the drywall, something nostalgic in the cling of cigarette smoke to the fabric of the chairs, something exhilarating about the intoxicating hint of sex and tears and blood on the tables from the good times and the bad times and the worst of times. Peridot had mopped every inch of the skeevy sticky wood floors, she had polished every inch of the bar top, she had scrubbed the spots off of every glass big and small, she had rendered the street-side windows immaculate, she had cleaned up after every guest rude and depressed and giddily drunk alike. But all her time and effort put into the place wasn’t without reason; Peridot worked hard because Pearl and Sheena deserved someone to take care of their bar. The two of them had risked _everything_ —quit their jobs, threw financial caution to the wind, sacrificed their free time together—to buy the joint and fix it up into a respectable, charming establishment. They could only afford to keep so many employees, which included an introverted but hardworking college student named Sadie and her less-than-dedicated “pal” Lars as the only full-timers other than the co-owners themselves. Peridot could only work nights—while she was still taking night classes on campus, she could only work _weekend_ nights—but with the switch to online classes, she made a point of working as many nights as Sheena asked of her. Peridot didn’t mind. Peridot liked pouring her heart in soul into _something_ , since she clearly didn’t have the motivation to pour it into her _own_ home.

The night went just as Peridot had predicted: it was a “fucking Sunday” after all. The neon sign in the window lit up the fluid letters of  _OPEN_ , and almost immediately a handful of regulars were in the door. Peridot knew every last one of them, and every last one of them were the washed-up, never-did-nothing sorts who came to waste money earned at their mediocre jobs on mediocre drinks and mediocre bar food so as to have something of a more-than-mediocre night. Sheena was prompt to greet these greying, wrinkling patrons, who were all smiles to have a conversation about anything more than raises and bonuses and rent and bills. Lars came rolling in a little later than the washed-ups, wearing his ripped up black jeans and his disheveled black dress shirt and red bowtie, hair dyed a new color than last week—it was silvery white now—and sporting a new pair of gauges with horned skulls carved into them. As always, he came pushing through the backroom door with his back, head hunched over his phone, fingers texting away. Peridot was in the back when he came in, keeping up with the washed-ups orders.

“Lars! Hey! I need a favor!” Peridot was immediately up in the guy’s space, arms waving frantically.

Lars hardly glanced up from his phone, eyes dull and sharp with sarcasm. “Whatdya want, Peridot?”

“Capsules,” Peridot bit out, hands fidgeting with each other something awful, voice suddenly growing in volume and desperation. “I know you have ‘em, Lars! I need them! You have to give them to me!”

Lars made a disgusted noise in his throat, eyes rolling skyward. “Oh yeah? What are you going to give me for some?” He made a point of pulling a flask from his back pocket, popping the lid and pouring out three crimson pill capsules into his palm, tossing one into his mouth and holding it captive between his teeth before crunching down on it. With the _crunch_ came the sharp and arousing scent of blood.

“Anything!” Peridot stammered, reaching desperately for the hand with the pills, which Lars easily kept way over her head. “Anything at all!”

“Anything, huh?” Lars sniggered, taking his time thinking up his price, finally coming to a decision after fiddling with his bowtie. “I got it. You have to wear this thing every day to work until the New Year.”

“Deal!! Deal!!” Peridot squeaked, watching the angelic fall of Lars’ hand as it came down to her eye level, blooming open to reveal the two capsules.

Lars grinned, fangs prominent in his smile. “All yours.”

Peridot snagged the capsules, chewing the first without hesitation, sparks bursting in her head with the immediate relief. The second followed right after the first, but she savored it, rolling it around in her cheek as the capsule coating slowly disintegrated.

“Don’t forget the most important thing.” Lars tugged his bowtie loose, pushing it down through Peridot’s unlawful hair and cinching it around her neck just a bit too tight, purposeful in his actions. “There. Don’t you look _a-dork-a-ble_.” The syllables came out one after the other, each more mocking than the first.

Peridot hissed at him, fangs barred. Lars matched her vicious expression and hissed back, both of their adrenalines running high from the capsules.

“No bat fights you two,” Sheena cut into their heated tit for tat as she entered the back room, balancing a tray of empty beer glasses. “Don’t forget: all my brothers are vamps. I could take you two with my eyes closed.”

Lars heaved a rebellious sigh, hands and eyes returning to his phone. “Whatever…”

“The bar could use some tending, fluffy,” Sheena remarked cheekily to the moody twenty-two year old college bum. “Who knows, I might even pay you if you do a good job.”

“Har har,” Lars sneered unamused, phone slipping into his pocket as he left the back room to take his place behind the bar.

“Sour Patch Kid,” Sheena turned to Peridot, noticing the bowtie and finding herself slipping into a smile despite herself, taking the liberty to loosen it just a bit with a gingerly tug. “Well that’s a cute look for you.”

Peridot’s whole face turned pink, screwing up into a thoughful expression. “I dunno, I think I look a combination of tough and sophisticated. Like I’m gonna go file my taxes but also kick a guy’s face in.” She puffed out her chest, squaring her shoulders. “I’m tough-isticated.”

Sheena laughed low to herself. “Hey Ms. Tough-isticated, mind keeping up with the dining room? We’re getting a lot of comers-and-goers. Couple shots, couple beers, back out the door, that sort of thing.”

“Okay!” Peridot chimed as she fetched a sanitary towel from the bucket of sanitary towels and tucked it in the back pocket of her jeans, feeling a million times better after indulging in Lars’ blood capsules.

“Oh, and Peri?”

Peridot froze wth her hand extended to shove the door to the dining room open, looking back. Sheena stood with her arms crossed, a playful smile ghosting on her features.

“Try not to intimidate our customers right out the door, would ya?”’

Peridot straighten her bowtie and flexed a skin-and-bones arm nonchalantly. “No promises, Captain Overlord Mystery Girl.”

“Fair,” Sheena nodded sagely. “One last thing: big smile for me.”

Peridot barred her teeth in an overzealous grin; her fangs were quick to retract with her mental will for them to do so, leaving her smile as inconspicuous as ever.

“Good, good,” Sheena walked over and gave Peridot a fist bump. “On your way, fun-size.”

Peridot waltzed her way into the dining room, feeling high on life, feeling on top of the world, feeling great about the night ahead. Until she scanned the dining room. And there, right smack in the middle of it all, sat Lapis and Jasper, laughing with a group of what appeared to be older college students, sporting their best weekend outfits and sports jerseys. Well, not Lapis and Jasper. Jasper was wearing a red flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up her arms and a worn out pair of jeans. Lapis was… Peridot felt her whole body overheat. Lapis looked _fantastic_ in the most effortless of ways. Peridot only had two words: _leather pants_. Everything else was null and void.

Like a streak of lightning, Peridot was back through the doors and in the back room, chest heaving and heart pounding to get out of her chest. It took Peridot a full five minutes, but she realized she had absolutely no clue why she was hiding. She didn’t _have_ a reason, Peridot supposed, but she still felt more comfortable with the idea of squeezing herself into a storage closet for the night than the idea of… talking… to Lapis… at work… _in a fucking bowtie_ …!!

Peridot hurried to the door that led behind the bar, pulling them open so as to see into the establishment without actually leaving the back.

“Lars! Yo Lars!!”

Lars was pretending to clean a glass, looking up from his busywork to spot Peridot in the doorway.

“Can I watch the bar for a sec if you go out in the dining room and clear tables…?!”

“Why?” Lars’ lip curled in disgust.

“ _Please_ Lars..!!!” Peridot pleaded, hand fisting anxiously into her hair. “Just for a little bit!”

Lars crossed his arms, stalking his way to the back room, coming face to face with Peridot behind closed doors, eyes cold. “What’s in it for me?”

Peridot stammered quickly. “I-I-I’ll—… I’ll-I’ll do your homework for you for a week..!”

Lars’ eyebrow raised, his interest piqued. “Oh yeah? Which class?”

“Any class,” Peridot said, the regret already stretched thin in her voice. “All the classes. Come _on_ Lars…!”

“Fine.” Lars shook onit, taking quiet enjoyment in crushing Peridot’s hand within his own larger but gangly hand. “We’ll discuss the details later. Get behind the bar. If anyone questions your age, just flag me down.”

Peridot heaved a thankful sigh, hurrying through the door to take shelter behind the bar, hiding herself under the cover of a huge glass and a towel, acting occupied as she spied on her neighbors through the distortion of the glass. She noted the small quirks in Lapis’ eyebrows, the way they seemed to dance on her face as she emoted, crushing down on her eyes, shooting up on her forehead, and occupying every location in between. Her eyes, too, were very animated, squinted cheerily and suspiciously and closed pleasantly whenever she laughed all teeth and grin. Jasper… Jasper was _there;_  Peridot couldn’t afford to spend a second with her eyes on anything but Lapis. The shrug of her shoulders, the expressiveness of her hands, the careless flop of her hair over her eyes and over her ears and at funny angles… Peridot only wished she could see her freckles and count them all…

“When can we expect the wedding announcement?”

Sheena’s voice scared Peridot shitless and she literally spooked off the floor, hair standing on end, whirling around to face her boss with big guilty eyes and a crooked worrisome mouth. Sheena had her arms crossed and a big knowing smile on her face. The words she had said suddenly sunk in for Peridot, who promptly turned beet red and began stammering incoherent indignation.

“Don’t play dumb,” Sheena warned softly. “I know that look when I see it. Pearl used to sport that look all the time when she thought I culdn't see.” Her smile turned all soft. “Still does.”

Peridot maintained her silence, though her eyes wandered back to Lapis. Jasper had disappeared, as did a few of the college students. Lapis had turned her attention from conversation to the snack food at the table. Peridot felt an unbridled envy at the french fries. 

“The two of them moved into my apartment building—same floor and everything—just yesterday,” Peridot explained, prying her eyes from Lapis to look at Sheena. “They’re really loud. A-A-Arguing, that is…” There she went, turning her face bright red again…

“Oh, so they’re _that_ kind of couple, huh?” Sheena puffed air out her cheeks in a knowing sigh.

A sudden, mind-numbing fear came crashing out of nowhere and settled heavily and ground-breaking in Peridot’s brain. “You think—!? You think they’re a couple…!?”

Sheena shrugged. “Well sure. Living together, arguing, going out together… more than likely, yeah.”

Peridot looked to Lapis again, and suddenly, there was no flutter of butterflies in her stomach, or slight weakness in her knees. There was just this crushing weight on her chest like the entire ocean was sitting there, waiting for her ribs to crack and her lungs to cave.

“I-I-I think I need a quick breather…” Peridot’s voice was hardly audible.

“You got ten minutes, P. I’ll hold down the bar for you.”

Peridot nodded her thanks, hurrying into the back room and hurrying again through the heavy metal back door. Outside, there was a little alley, connecting the backs of all the establishments on this particular block. Each establishment had a dumpster. Each dumpster reeked after a long day of beating sun and high humidity. But Peridot didn’t notice these things, her mind having become very suddenly one-track as she pulled out her phone and scrolled through her contacts, leaning up against the wall of the bar. She found who she was looking for, tapping the button to call them. The line rang and rang and rang, each of the drawn out monotones causing Peridot’s heart to skip a beat. She thought it would ring indefinitely when the line finally clinked, connecting.

“Hello?” The voice was a no-nonsense, tired-of-life, tear-you-down-with-my-words kind of voice.

“Ms. White? Hi, yes, it’s Peridot, from apartment 404..?”

“I see; hello Peridot.” Ms. White sounded utterly displeased. “And just why, exactly, are you calling at this hour? On a Sunday, no less?”

“Yes, well, you see,” Peridot hurried to get out, mouth suddenly quite dry. “I had a question, a-about apartment 401..?”

“That apartment is occupied.”

“Yes, but... do you happen to know if that’s a one bedroom apartment or a two bedroom—?”

“I _said_ it’s occupied.” Any patience the woman may have had was already long gone.

“Yes, I-I-I, uh, I-I understand, ma’am, I just need to know—”

“Peridot..?”

The rotation of the world and the passage of time all seemed to come grinding to a great and sudden halt as the words reached Peridot’s ears. Slowly, disbelievingly, she turned from her aimless stare at dumpsters to the where the voice had sounded from. Her fingers hung up her phone as little more than an afterthought as her eyes confirmed her ears’ suspicion.

Lapis smiled as Peridot’s wide, glasses-framed, baby blue eyes turned to stare up at her, smiled the sort of smile that was all softness and kindness and sunshine and butterfly kisses. Peridot’s whole body forgot how to function properly.

“Cute,” Lapis commented offhandedly as she toyed with Peridot’s bowie, her fingers just barely brushing along Peridot’s jaw; each ghost of a touch might as well have been fireworks of sensation to star-struck Peridot. “You ought to wear it to our lunch date.”

 _Date_. Peridot’s whole existence suddenly revolved around the word, almost causing her to forget about the complication that was _lunch_.

“About that…” Peridot’s voice cracked like a teen in the very thrones of puberty, her eyes darting down to her feet as she cleared her throat in a volume meant to balance suavity and efficiency, ears burning with embarrassment.

Lapis’ smile turned into a lopsided frown, all disappointment and rainclouds. “You’re not ditching me are you?”

“No, no!” The words were spilling out of Peridot before she had time to think them through. In a panic, her mind rushed to conjure some sort of excuse… _and there it was_! “It’s just, I’ve been thinking about it… and you don’t seem to me like the “lunch date” type.”

“Oh yeah?” Lapis’ eyes twinkled with mischief and challenge all at once, struggling to suppress a grin.

“Yeah,” Peridot found herself smirking, all her mental energy expended on trying to look and sound cool. “So I’ve got a counterproposal for you, Lapis.”

“What’s that?” She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, amusement playing on her features.

Peridot wiggled her eyebrows. “You. Me. Super-secret grungy rock concert. The Abandoned Warehouse by the dock. Wednesday night. You in..?”

“Alright, bowtie,” Lapis replied all cavalier and confidence, using a single finger to push Peridot’s glasses back to their proper seat at the top of her nose, bringing an intense blush to the shorter girl’s cheeks. “I’m in.”


	3. A Fortress for Hiding In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot wakes up hung over, and realizes she missed a whole lot in the night.

Peridot’s eyes blinked open in sleepy wonder, narrowing in suspicion as they roamed her surroundings in utter confusion. She was home. How did she get home? Where had she been before? Slowly, she pushed herself up from where she was laying on her stomach, her upper half on the bed and her lower half on the floor, drool still soaking her face and gluing her hair there, glasses extremely crooked on her face where she had forgotten to remove them. The last memory she could conjure up— fuzzy as it was—was that of Sheena saying something about motorcycles and pouring a row of shots nearly as long as the bar. Lars was there, Peridot thought without confidence. No one else was there. Peridot straightened her person to stand on two feet, promptly shuffling to her bathroom and puking her guts out in the toilet.

She was blinking her eyes open again, a wave of complete and utter bafflement fogging up her head as she slowly became aware of the buzzing of her phone, left on vibrate, ringing spastically _somewhere_ in the apartment.  Finding herself slumped over the toilet after what Peridot could only assume had been a power nap, she spat into the toilet several more times and flushed it again for good measure, hauling herself up onto unsteady legs and managing to hold herself up at the sink, working a toothbrush furiously through her mouth to be rid of the absolutely horrid aftertaste of alcoholic vomit. Her phone stopped buzzing, but then promptly started up again. Strength returning to her with each second of consciousness, Peridot shuffled out of her bathroom, toothbrush hanging out her mouth, and looked around for her phone. Her eyes were met with nothing but the whirlwind of chaos that was the state of her room. She _really_ had to clean at some point… even just a little bit…

The buzzing stopped again as Peridot knocked aside two weeks’ worth of empty Mountain Dew cans and Monster cans and clothes and the blankets from her bed that had apparently never made it off the floor. Expecting the phone to keep getting the same calls for as long as she didn’t answer it, Peridot kept searching. The phone didn’t ring again, but Peridot still managed to find it where it had fallen halfway under the bed. She punched in her passcode and checked her missed calls. A lump formed in her throat and made it hard to breathe. She had twelve missed calls from Amethyst. Frozen in absolute fear, mind racing with all the worst case scenarios and the even far worse case scenarios, her fingers had barely begun to move to call her friend back when someone was pounding on her door as furiously as if they were pursued by zombies. And not the classic shuffling zombies, Peridot thought as she jumped to answer the door; the really fast run-you-down kind of zombies.

She hadn’t gotten the door open more than an inch before it was thrown open and Peridot tackled to the ground.

“Oh thank goodness!!” Amethyst was crying.

 _Amethyst was crying_.

Peridot kicked the door shut with a free foot and hugged her friend back as tightly as she could, though suffocating in her friend’s much stronger arms.

“What’s—… wrong..?” Peridot managed to choke out, air whooshing out of her lungs as Amethyst hugged tighter, both of them still lying on the floor.

“You weren’t answering your phone!!” Amethyst snapped, her voice a mixture of pure anger and absolute relief.

“Sorry…” Peridot choked. “Last night got a little weird… I just—” She tried to take in a breath, unsuccessfully. “I just woke up… Phone was… missing…”

Amethyst sensed the consciousness slipping away in Peridot, making an effort to ease up on the hug, rolling to sit on the floor and manipulating Peridot into the same position. Peridot realized just how beat up Amethyst was. Bloodshot eyes, bruised arms legs face, clothes disheveled and stained with blood, the overwhelming stench of canine seeping off her skin…

“Amethyst!” Peridot’s eyes got huge, voice rising in panic. “What’s going on!?”

Amethyst shut her eyes tight, babbling through her storm of emotions. “It was right nearby the bar, that place you work, I panicked, I thought you might have gotten involved…”

“Amethyst, I’m alright,” Peridot assured, taking her hand to assure her of her presence. “I’m fine. I’m alright…”

Amethyst pulled her hand away to cover her eyes, wiping away tears fiercely as they began to spill. “They—… the hunters—…he’s dead…”

Suddenly, everything felt cold, distant, detached. Amethyst’s words reached Peridot but she could not hear them. Peridot forgot to breathe. There was panic, there was so much panic, but it hadn’t set in yet; it was coming, it was racing for her, but for a moment, a single moment, Peridot felt nothing. Cold, crushing, heart-stopping nothing.

“Peri…”

Amethyst’s words struck Peridot like a train, and with them, everything came crashing down. Peridot began to cry uncontrollably, shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. She didn’t _want_ to act this way; she wanted to be the bigger person, the one to comfort Amethyst, the voice of reason. But here she was, a mess of tears and sobs and trembling hands. And there was Amethyst, strong arms tugging Peridot into a hug and refusing to let go. Peridot wasn’t sure how long it lasted—the hug, the crying, the mind-numbing fear—only that when it came to a soft and gentle end, Peridot felt like crawling into her bed and sleeping for a century. But at the same time, she _wanted_ to fight this. She wanted to fight the fear. She wanted to fight whatever had Amethyst rushing to her apartment in tears.

Somehow they ended up in front of the TV, lounging in a nest of pillows and bean bags and blanket and anything else that was cushy, snuggled up to one another as they half-heartedly watched whatever was on Animal Planet. Peridot’s eyes were half shut, lost in the warmth that was Amethyst’s body, Amethyst's hair draped over Peridot like a hat, her shoulder acting as the perfect pillow for Peridot. Amethyst’s eyes were glued to the TV, growling softly in her throat as the show drifted to the topic of wolves, legs tangled up with Peridot’s and feet toying with her friend’s absentmindedly. The door to the apartment was locked and bolted and now had a couch in front of it, and somehow it still didn’t seem enough. Even as sleepy as she was, Peridot found herself jolting awake periodically just to glance towards the door, just to be sure there were no hunters coming after the two of them.

“Your new neighbors are arguing,” Amethyst commented softly as she ripped apart a popcorn bag and licked the butter and salt from off the wrapping.

“Are they..?” Peridot tilted her head to free an ear from Amethyst’s hair, though still hearing nothing.

“Yeah,” Amethyst nodded, tongue working to clean her buttery fingers, exposing her mouth of canine teeth.

Peridot stared, admiring the teeth as she always did, unconsciously opening her own mouth to mimic Amethyst’s expressions. “About what..?”

Amethyst paused in her snacking, cocking her head, nose twitching just a bit. “What movie to watch.”

Peridot sat in patient and impressed silence, waiting to hear more.

“Foghorn says Fast and Furious. Butterfly wings says Pulp Fiction.”

“Do we have Pulp Fiction??” Peridot asked quickly, struggling her way out of their fortress of comfort to dig through her haphazard collection of DVDs piled around the TV.

“Ooooo!” Amethyst crooned teasingly, teeth barred in a smirk, beginning to chant in a sing-song voice: “Peri’s got a crush!!”

Peridot was immediately diving back into the fort, hands seeking the smother Amethyst’s continual mantra. “Shut up!! Shut up shut up shut _up!!_ ”

Amethyst laughed uproariously as she restrained Peridot easily with only a single hand, using her free hand to poke her friend’s nose and her chanting continued at a quieter decibel. “Peri’s got a _cruuu-uush!_ ”

Peridot snapped grouchily at the finger, earning herself a flick to the nose instead. “Ow!!”

“Soo,” Amethyst hummed, pulling Peridot into her lap so that their faces were but an inch apart, eyes lidded in the most teasing of expressions. “It’s a girl this time, huh? Had enough of boys after _Timothy_ _Connors_?” Her voice oozed with mocking sarcasm.

Peridot’s eyes shifted to the other side of the room to avoid having to look Amethyst in the eye, face turning all shades of red. “Tim was just one big drunk mistake, okay?”

“Oh, so you were drunk for three weeks straight? Impressive!”

Peridot glared indignantly at Amethyst, only able to hold the expression for split second before her eyes were running away again. “Shut up…”

“You could have told me you were going after the chicks now, P,” Amethyst’s teasing cranked up a notch, batting her eyelashes and leaning in ever closer. “I would have spruced up a bit for ya.”

“Oh fuck off!!” Peridot shoved Amethyst away, only succeeding in pushing herself out of her lap and onto the floor. “It’s not like that…!! You _know_ it’s not—...!!”

“I’m just playing around, P,” Amethyst’s voice was suddenly apologetic, realizing she had pushed her luck a bit too far. “We’re friends. I respect that. I _like_ that.”

Peridot nodded bashfully, arms crossed stiffly across her chest and face screwed up in a forced angry expression to cover up whatever she was really feeling. Amethyst did what she could to recover the conversation.

“So, this girl-crush of yours… you talk to her yet or is it still in that honeymoon stage of Peri puppy-eyes and the infamous Peri pining?”

“You can _just_ say puppy-eyes and pining, Ame…” Peridot complained half-heartedly.

“Yeah, but you do it _soo_ well it’s like you invented puppy-eyes and pining!” Amethyst laughed, thinking back to the first relationship of Peridot's she had witnessed since becoming friends; if it hadn’t been for the party where both Peridot and Timothy Connors got drunk off their rockers, Peridot probably would have keep mooning in silence for months.

“Well, for your information,” Peridot said matter-of-factly, unable to help the tinge of pride in that crept into her voice. “I _did_ talk to her. Well, I mean, _technically_ she talked to _me_ , but that’s beside the point!”

Amethyst gasped dramatically in wide-eyed astonishment. “And you didn’t faint from the sheer glory of her voice!?”

Peridot glared dully. “No.”

Amethyst acted out the scenario to her liking anyways, tossing a limp hand onto her brow as she fell back into the squishy depths of their fortress of comfort. “Oh neighbor! Thou art far too beautiful for mine eyes to behold! Prithy, spare thy words, for should thou speaketh unto me, I shall surely faint forthwith, hark!”

Peridot’s face was turning beet red again. “I do not—! I don’t—! Amethyst…!! That’s not even proper grammar…”

Amethyst smiled smugly. “Oh yeah, that’s right, it was your _mother_ who lived through that Old English gibberish, right?”

Peridot hissed viciously despite herself. “Yeah, and she kept your dad as a pet!!”

Amethyst snarled at full volume, teeth barred and heckles raised. “Watch it!!!”

It took several long minutes of silence for both of them to cool off, Amethyst pointedly watching the TV while Peridot sulked to the kitchen and made more popcorn, sticking her head in the freezer as she did. The silence was broken as Peridot spoke up from her location in the freezer.

“You never did say _who_ was killed, Ame…”

“Just some kid,” She shrugged, anger prevalent in her voice, though from their little spat or from the supernatural murder that had occurred, Peridot did not know for certain. “College student. On the football team. Real popular guy, apparently. One of those out-of-the-closet supernatural types.”

“Out-of-the-closet..?” Peridot questioned, returning with three more bags of popcorn in her arms and giving two of them to Amethyst.

“Yeah,” Amethyst opened one bag and began eating it by the handful. “Someone who’s open about their supernatural identity. You usually see out-of-the-closet sorts in suburbs. You know, tiny little towns where everyone is a friend of a friend. It’s easier, ‘cause everyone’s somebody in the suburbs. Out here in the city, you don’t see many people being open about being supernaturals. Mostly ‘cause of all the hate you get for it. And, well, because it puts a big target on your head for hunters. Case and point.”

“So we’re…?” Peridot asked, not so sure of her supernatural terminology.

“Closeted supernaturals,” Amethyst answered flatly. “Our identity is a need-to-know basis. Only shared when the government demands it to meet inclusion quotas. Or with close friends, I guess. Or with each other.”

“How’d you… how’d you hear about it..?” Peridot returned to her place at Amethyst’s side hesitantly, getting comfier as her presence wasn’t immediately rejected. “The murder, I mean…”

“I was with the wrestling pack,” Amethyst shrugged. “One of the guys has a buddy in the supernatural unit at the police station. He got called to the crime scene, then immediately got the word out to everyone he knew to keep off the streets. The hunters are still at large, and according to this police guy, even if they’re caught they’d have protection under the law.”

“The Humanity Against Supernatural Violence ruling..?” Peridot knew this one; her parents used to talk about it almost daily. Essentially, it allowed a person to take almost any action against a supernatural who was violent and destructive and be sanctioned in their actions by the law.

Amethyst let out a low growl of disgust. “Yeah, that damn thing. Evidence suggests foul play on the kid’s part, which means the argument can be made that he was being malicious or violent and then protect his murderers under the ruling. Which is how it’s going to go down, ‘cause the kid was a werebear. And the government _hates_ weres because the public _hates_ weres.”

“Fuck…” Peridot breathed, drawing her knees to her chest. “I’m sorry Amethyst…”

“Don’t be sorry,” Amethyst replied, jostling Peridot affectionately. “I’m not going to end up dead on the street anytime soon. I’ve got a pack, and the pack sticks together. It’s _you_ I worry about, P-dot. You vampires are notoriously antisocial.”

Peridot stuck out her tongue just a bit. “That reminds me… get the fuck out of my apartment, Amethyst.”

Amethyst laughed, grinding a fist into Peridot’s messy hair playfully. “You little shit!!” She laughed, grinning wickedly. “What, you inviting your girlfriend over for a little get-together?”

There she went again, turning Peridot’s face the color of a tomato. “Well, I mean, I _did_ invite her on a little date…”

Amethyst froze, staring at Peridot in shock. “You _whaaaaa!?_ ”

Peridot rubbed the back of her head, straightening her glasses nervously as she looked away. “Well, yeah, I uh… she wanted lunch, see? A-And I can’t do lunch… so I might have… um, I _may_ have… well…. You know that thingy on Wednesday..?”

Amethyst looked suddenly worried. “Oh, no, Peri, that’s a supernaturals-only type thing…”

“I-It’s cool..!” Peridot defended softly. “She’s cool, I mean..! Like, it’ll be fine. I’ll vouch for her… it’s totally fine…”

“If you say so,” Amethyst didn’t sound convinced. “Just… try and figure out some backup plans in case the concert blows up in your face…”

“ _Gee_ , thanks…”

“I’m serious, P.”

“I know,” Peridot sighed, pawing at her eyes from beneath her glasses. “I just _really_ want to impress this one, you know..? She’s way too fucking cool…”

“Is she hot?” Amethyst wiggled her eyebrows.

Peridot gave her the most no-nonsense of stares. “Smokin’.”

Amethyst cheered, pumping her fist in the air. “And my P’s gonna tap that!!”

“YOU’RE GOING TO JINX IT YOU _CLOD_!!” Peridot screamed at the top of her lungs.

Amethyst cheered over her. “TAP THAT! TAP THAT!”

Peridot hiked her voice up another level, absolutely shrieking. “YOU’RE GONNA JIIIIIINNNXXX IIIIIITTTTTTTT!!!!”

A knock came at the door.

They both lapsed into perfect silence and stared in horror.

“Peridot..?”

 _Oh my stars._ It was Lapis!!!

“Coming!!” Peridot’s voice cracked something awful as she scrambled for the door, Amethyst in tow.

Amethyst lifted the couch effortlessly from the doorway and turned it just enough to allow the door to open. Hiding behind it as Peridot swung it open and smiled like a million suns. “Oh hey Lapis!”

Lapis smiled easily. “Hey. You okay? I heard a lot of, um… yelling..? Was that yelling, or..?”

“Oh yeah! Yelling, yes!” Peridot gulped, trying to appear natural and instead appearing completely awkward. “That was, uh… that was me..! Game-…ing… yeah… a game… I was gaming… and, uh… yelling…”

“Uh huh,” Lapis nodded, unable to help but notice the state of Peridot’s apartment, most pointedly the giant horrific lump of pillows and blankets and other odds and ends. And the _smell_. “I like what you’ve done with the place…”

Peridot heard the sarcasm in Lapis' voice as clear as a slap to the face. “Oh this..? No, yeah, this isn’t usually what my place is like…. I had… guests…?”

“Oh, I get it,” Lapis smiled slightly in relief, eyes trailing down Peridot dangerously slow and ending up all honey on her face. “We still on for Wednesday night..?”

“Oh yeah, definitely!” Peridot nodded enthusiastically, hands suddenly working double time to make something of her day-long bedhead.

Lapis let out a small laugh, sending butterflies bursting through Peridot’s stomach. “See you then, cutie.” Lapis threw a slow-motion punch into Peridot’s shoulder, all playfulness and smirk, before turning and heading back down the hallway.

Peridot watched her go, realizing quite suddenly the full weight of the situation. Lapis had left her apartment, come down the hallway, and checked on Peridot _just_ _because_ she heard her scream. It wasn’t traditional romantic, but Peridot was head over heels for whatever sort of romanticism that was…

Amethyst shoved the door shut, gaping at Peridot with the most ecstatic of expression. “I could see her through the crack!” She pointed at where the door met the hinges. “Holy shit P!! _Holy fucking shit!!_ ”

All Peridot could do was grin sheepishly, still a bit dazzled. And then, quite suddenly, _mortified_.

“Amethyst!!!”

“Yes??”

“We need to get this place cleaned up, _stat_!!” Peridot’s hands fisted into her hair, ready to pull it all out by the roots. “The laundry! The food! The _laundry_!!”

Amethyst held up a finger. “Just hang tight, Peri. I’ve got a bunch of trash bags and shit we can use. Give me a sec. I’ll pop back to my place and grab it all. You start sorting the laundry: lights and darks and towels.”

“What..? Why are the towels—?”

“ _I don’t know_ , the towels are just _separate_ okay!?”

Peridot nodded. “Hurry! I-I don’t want her to know I’m cleaning for her..!!”

Amethyst saluted, hurrying out the door. “I'll be just a sec, okay? Get to sorting!!”

Peridot saw her friend out the door, then turned to come face to face with the utter pigsty that was her studio apartment. She checked her phone for the time. It was going to be a _long_ night, that was for sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you interested in having more background about the supernatural beings in this AU, go check out "The Science Behind the Supernaturals", which can be found in the same series as this fic. It's far from complete, but I'll be working on it when I'm not working on this fic or when I'm fresh of out fic inspiration. The "Vampire" chapter is pretty flesh out, though. So check it out, if you want! :)


	4. Ghosts of The Past, Promises of The Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot meets with her therapist Garnet, only to return home to a Lapis in trouble.

Peridot was never quite able to put a name to the smell of Garnet’s therapy office space. It was like cinnamon, but softer; like clean laundry, but more invigorating; like wood varnish, but more subtle. All in all, it was the sort of smell that evoked the word “home” in Peridot’s mind. Not that her therapist’s office felt like home. It was comfortable, sure, with its mushy couches and encouraging kitten posters and bright pastel color scheme, in the way the walls seemed to soak up sound leaving the only noise in the room that of the bladeless fan humming in the corner. And Peridot was quite comfortable, with her beat up converse shoes left at the door, leaning far back into the saggy plush couch, feet wrapped in snuggly alien-dotted socks pulled up onto the couch with the rest of her and knees tucked to her chest, dressed in the most comfortable of sweatpants and a hoodie, hands clutching to a huge mug of steaming herbal tea, the steam of which wafted calmness into her very soul. But being comfortable and smelling home-y still didn’t equate to feeling like home. Quite the contrary, Peridot couldn’t help but relate the room to something closer to a principal’s office, or that little room at the bank where you go to beg for a loan, or the cluttered office space you find yourself in when interviewing for a job. There was a degree of lively expectation as an undercurrent to all the comfort and softness to the room, and Peridot couldn't help but feel it crawling over her skin.

Garnet entered.

Peridot didn’t dislike her therapist. Which was phrasing it a bit oddly, to be frank, because in reality she really rather liked Garnet. Loved her, even. Despite how her collectedness often came off as callous or unconcerned, Peridot was quick to realize that Garnet was very much on her side when it came down to it. She had been seeing her as a therapist since Peridot was sixteen, after going to a different therapist for a year and having an awful time. The old Ms. Whats-Her-Face had Peridot believing that she, as a vampire, was a burden to society and that she should be apologetic about the whole thing. Garnet said no such thing. Garnet told her she was valid, she was an individual, a gift, like a star from the very heavens, irreplaceable. And for the longest time, Peridot needed to hear that twice a month. But then Peridot moved to the big city, and all she wanted to hear was that she would still be getting her Supernatural Scholarship checks in the mail, so that her rent could get paid, her water could continue to run, her electricity would continue to exist, her food could be stocked again…

“Hello Peridot.” Garnet sat herself down in the armchair adjacent to the couch, notepad tucked under her arm.

“Hi,” Peridot answered tiredly, curling up closer to the warmth of her cup of tea; chamomile and lavender. She hated it. “How are you?”

Garnet chuckled lowly, a smile creeping onto her stoic features. “I’m well, thanks for asking.”

“Mmhm…” Peridot responded, eyes caught up on the far wall in a daze.

“Mind if we get started..?”

Peridot looked to her therapist, curly dark hair sculpted into a perfect afro, red loose shirt over a black tank top, tight black jeans. Sharp. All of it. “Yeah, go ahead…”

“Have you been eating?”

 _I take it back, don’t start_ , Peridot thought begrudgingly. “I mean, yeah…”

“But you’ve lost weight.”

“Have I really..?” Peridot honestly hadn’t noticed; it’s not like any of her clothes ever really fit properly…

Garnet nodded. “Your face, it’s hollowing out. And your hair is duller than usual, despite what I imagine is a typical amount of unwashed grease.”

“Okay, I haven’t been eating _well_ …”

“What _have_ you been eating, exactly..?”

Peridot sipped her tea to buy herself time, swallowing the bitter un-sugared liquid thickly. “Chips, sodas, popcorn, cereal… I ordered Chinese last week…”

“Why do you think it is you’re not eating?”

There it was, that undercurrent of worry that always clawed guilty holes in Peridot’s train of thought.

“I don’t know…”

Garnet was silent for a long while, flipping through her notepad of remarks and observations, the accumulation of their nearly four years with one another. As the silence and sound of slipping paper-on-paper drug on, Peridot turned her thoughts inward, eyes drawn to the shimmer of the ceiling lights in her tea. Depression. Anxiety. Eating Disorder. These were words that had come and gone through the tragically boring narrative that was her high school career. Depression sat like a weight in her chest as she laid in bed—sometimes for days—without the strength or motivation to move. Anxiety huddled up with her in the bathroom stalls of the school, gripping tightly to her lungs and funneling the endless sea of _what-if_ s into her mind until her head was swimming, blocking the door with its looming presence. The eating disorder hid in her wardrobe, shoving loose sweats onto her person. She shadowed her at school, too, swiveling the spotlight onto all the skinny bitches with their perfect flat stomachs and pencils for legs and their endless curves, and then back to Peridot’s squishy stomach and less-than-magazine-worthy body shape and stubby legs and chubby little arms. It sat across from her at the lunch table wearing a glare like death itself, under which Peridot couldn’t even bear to look at her food as she dumped it in the trash and made herself sick chugging water in the bathroom.

Peridot didn’t want to think about that. Peridot _couldn’t_ think about it. The thought alone was enough to dig her ghosts out of the ground where she believed she had left them.

“Here.”

Peridot looked up, finding Garnet to be holding something out to her. A book. Peridot recognized it, snatching it up as she set her tea aside on the coffee table. The binding was worn, the cover was painted with flowers and aliens chipping and rubbing away, the pages swelled with a life that suggested heavy use. She flipped it open to the first page, where crude handwritten letters spelled out: _Peridot’s 101 Reasons to Keep On Keeping On_. In red pen, in Garnet’s neat and flowy handwriting, the words were added below the first: _And 101 More_.

“I think it would be best if you read through that again. And maybe start making some new entries.”

Peridot was only half listening, flipping to the next page. _Dear Journal, today my brother caught me a cricket. He named it Noisy and gave it to me in a jar. We gave him a slice of cucumber…_ She shut the book quickly.

“Thanks… I guess…”

“You remember how the journal works,” Garnet reminded softly. “Whenever something makes you feel like life is worth living, just make a note of it. And whenever you feel bogged down, read it, front to cover. And then call me, no matter how you’re feeling after the journal. Can you do that, Peridot? For me? For _you_?”

Peridot nodded, hands gripping so tight to the journal her knuckles turned white and the binding creaked in quiet protest.

“One last thing: why don’t you start using that app again, the one where you log your daily intake of food. No lies, just some good old fashion honesty, alright?”

“Do I have to…?”

“You don’t _have_ to anything I tell you to, Peridot. But in my professional opinion, I would highly suggest it. It seems to me like you don’t even notice you’re forgetting to eat. This has helped in the past.”

“Fine, fine…”

“Oh, and Peridot..?”

“Yes, Ms. Garnet..?” When did she start to feel so…tired..?

Garnet smiled. “Your scholarship will continue. If all goes well, I’ll see you in two weeks.”

Peridot got to her feet, tucking the journal under her arm, almost losing sight of the old thing beneath an overzealous hoodie sleeve three times too big for her, slipping back into her shoes as she stood by the door. “Ms. Garnet..?”

“Yes Peridot?”

“I left my tea on the coffee table… thanks for making me some, by the way…”

The woman smiled, shifting her head so that she faced Peridot, a hand straightening the dark glasses that sat over her sightless eyes. “Your welcome. And thank you for the heads up.”

“Anytime…” Peridot said mostly to herself, remaining a few moments too long in the doorway before rushing out to compensate for her initial hesitation.

It was warm for a typical October night when she left the building and hit the sidewalk, warm in that sort of artificial way, from the heat caught inside the cheap brick buildings leaked into the air around them, from the steam rising off the sunbaked concrete, from the gusts that came rushing up from drainage grates. It was the sort of warmth that was swept away in an instant by the bitter night air, only to settle back in with the still moments that inevitably followed. Peridot took out her phone as she walked. She found Amethyst’s number in her recent calls. She pressed call.

A ring. Silence. Another ring. Silence. A ri—

“Yo P-Dot,” Amethyst huffed, breath heavy in the microphone. “Sup?”

“Hey, I’m just—” Peridot couldn’t think fast enough for her mouth. “Just calling…”

Amethyst shifted the phone to the tune of some static, voice immediately taking on a heavy quality. “Is everything alright? Are you okay?”

“I’m—” Peridot felt a sob bubble up into her throat, swallowing hard to suppress it. “I’m just leaving therapy is all, no biggy…”

Amethyst’s breath hit the microphone in an uneven sigh. “If you need me to come over, I can be there in five…”

“No no!” Peridot assured quickly, trying to force some confidence into her voice as she shifted which hand held her phone to her ear through her mess of hair. “I’m alright, really, I—… I honestly don’t know why I called…”

“Okay…” Amethyst didn’t sound fully convinced, but she did try hard to sound more casual. “I’ll be out and about tonight with the pack, so if you need me for anything—anything at all, P—just call, I’ll show up pronto.”

“ _Please_ tell me you guys aren’t trying to track down the hunters…” There was the sob.

“We need to catch them Peri!”

“No, _I_ need you to be _safe_ , Amethyst!!” Peridot felt the panic tighten in her chest, starting to babble, a hand tugging at her hair. “You’re all I’ve got Ames! If something happens to you, i-i-it doesn’t matter _how_ many people you save in the process, you’ll _hurt_ me! You’re going to _hurt_ me Amethyst, I—… I can’t take that…!!”

“That's it; you need me, I’m coming over!”

“ _NO_ ,” Peridot wiped furiously at her eyes as tears began to spill hot and angry onto her cheeks. “Amethyst, _don’t_. I’m just going to go to sleep, there’s no point in you coming over..! Just be safe… _promise_ me you’ll be safe…”

“I’ll be safe, P. Promise.”

Peridot felt herself get caught up in the sincerity of Amethyst’s voice, the sound of which she never ever expected to hear. “Okay.” She shook herself. “Okay. I’ll call tomorrow…. Bye Ames…”

“Night Peri. Talk to you tomorrow.”

The line stayed connected for a minute longer, neither of them quite ready to let the other one go after their less than conclusive conversation. Peridot was the one to finally hit the red button and end the call, tucking her phone into her sweatpants pocket as she covered the last block to her apartment building quickly, exhaustion settling into the holes her emotions had ripped in her mind. Another rough swipe at her eyes, a quick sniffle, the straightening of her glasses, a pointless effort made to do something with her teased hair... Once again, Peridot looked as if nothing had ever bothered her, not once, not ever.

All Peridot could think about as she hauled herself up the stairs, journal tucked under her arm, was her bed; her soft, warm, Dorito-scented bed; the siren song of tousled blankets and lumpy pillows, the disarming stitched smiles of those dozen plush she still couldn’t bear to part with. She was fully prepared to walk through her door, toss aside the journal, and launch herself face-first into that lovely bed, not even bothering to change clothes, and fall fast asleep in the embrace of cotton and fleece and whatever-the-heck comforters were made out of. But the moment Peridot emerged from the stairwell onto her floor, keys clicking was she retrieved them from her back pocket, turning the corner to clap eyes on her apartment door, all her plans dissolved at the sight of Lapis. Lapis, who was leaning on her door, knocking endlessly, half-heartedly, as if she had been standing there knocking for hours. Peridot froze, feet grinding into the floor as she came to a sudden halt, the sound of which drew Lapis’ attention. She bounced back in an instant, face lighting up like the sun as she noticed Peridot.

“Peridot!” She chimed, cheery, but with an edge of anxiousness that set alarm bells ringing jarringly inside Peridot’s mind. “Hey! Whatcha up to? Wanna go somewhere?”

Somehow, Peridot’s feet regained a measure of confidence and carried her to her door, hands working to unlock her apartment despite the twitter-pated fluttering of her heart in her chest and the goosebumps that cringed all over her skin just from having Lapis so close.

“I just got back, but…” Peridot opened her door, giving a nod that invited Lapis inside; she didn’t hesitate for a second. “What’s up..?”

“Oh, nothing…” Lapis replied in an off-handed sigh, head turning every which way as she took full stock of Peridot’s apartment; Peridot felt her ears burning with embarrassment, despite the fact that she and Amethyst had done wonders to straighten up the place the night before.

Lapis fixed Peridot with a poignant gaze, sending a stiffen jolt right down Peridot’s spine and into her fingers and toes. “I just… _may_ or _may not_ have replaced Jasper’s shampoo with bleach… and she _may_ or _may not_ be showering right now… so it _may_ or _may not_ be in my best interest to—oh, I don’t know—get away from the apartment building for a little while.”

Her face turned to an easy smile in an instant, her eyes roving again. “I thought you might need to pick some things up or something. You know, detergent, Lysol, _food_ …”

Peridot felt herself choke on the words tumbling out her mouth. “I have food…!”

Lapis’ eyes became hooded with playful incredulity. “ _Doritos_ don’t count, missy.”

 _Missy_. The word, spoken in Lapis’ deviously sexual tone, had Peridot’s face turning so red it was practically purple. “Okay, fine! You got me! I need groceries!”

“Great!” Lapis beamed, bolting for the door and snagging Peridot by the hoodie strings along the way. “My car’s in the lot. Let’s go!”

“I don’t—!” The strings cinched Peridot’s hood up around her face, leaving only her nose exposed; she picked up the pace and managed to tug her face free, shoving the hood off her head lest it happened again. “I don’t have my wallet, Lapis..!!”

“No biggy, I’ll cover you. Pay me back whenever!”

“Lapis, could we slow d—?”

“ _LAAAAAPIIIISSS!!!!”_

It was Jasper. The loudest, angriest Jasper Peridot had ever heard.

“Fuck!” Lapis half giggled, half squeak in terror, her grip moving from Peridot’s hoodie strings to her hand. “Run!!”

To be honest, Peridot wasn’t sure if she was sprinting down the stairs or straight up falling down them, for all her attention was consumed with the fact that Lapis’ hand was wrapped around her own. Lapis’ hand was cold and lanky and somehow very strong. It was everything in the world until the moment it let go.

“Get in!” Lapis laughed breathlessly.

They were in the parking lot, Lapis running for a black Mustang convertible. Peridot didn’t have time to wonder how they had ended up there without her noticing, sprinting for the passage side door, tugging it open and landing in the passage seat, door slamming shut behind her.

“Let’s go!” Peridot squeaked, looking through the window to watch the apartment building, convinced Jasper would come bursting through the brick walls at any moment.

“Just a sec!” Lapis’ voice came muffled, causing Peridot to look to her.

“What the—!? Lapis... is this even your car!?”

“Relax,” Lapis snorted from where she was working under the dash. “Of course it’s my car. I just forgot the keys. And… there..!”

The engine came to life as Lapis touched the right wires to one another. She popped up into the driver’s seat with the biggest, smuggest grin on her face, elbow resting on the shoulder of Peridot’s seat as she shifted into reverse and smashed the gas pedal to the floor, wheels screeching for traction and engine roaring—the sound of pure adrenaline—as they took off out of the parking lot and into traffic. Peridot was glued to her seat, both hands gripping to whatever they could find as her heart thumped in her ears.

“Hey Peri.”

Peridot’s eyes pulled off the road to stare at Lapis, who had the wildest look in her eyes and the most confident smile plastered on her face. The sight set a deep, cold fear in Peridot’s stomach.

“Watch this.” Lapis’ tongue pressed to her teeth excitedly.

“Lapis—!”

Too late. She was shifting into the next gear, feet working the pedals with precise timing as she weaved her way through traffic, blowing the doors off all the cars on the road. Peridot couldn’t hear herself screaming over the engine and Lapis’ maniacal laughter, but she was _definitely_ screaming. Then the engine revved down and Lapis jerked the wheel into the local 24-Hour Mart, the only non-organic non-vegan non-fancy grocery store within a ten block radius of the apartment. The car whipped again as Lapis pulled into her choice of many open parking spaces, nearly throwing Peridot into the door at the suddenness of it all. The car idled there, engine panting and the smell of burning rubber starting to build up in the air. Lapis was smothering giggles. Peridot was trying to remember how to breathe.

“ _Now_ I get it…” Peridot’s voice cracked from sheer anxiety, hands pawing at her eyes beneath her askew glasses.

“Get what?” Lapis had an elbow on the steering wheel, resting her face into her hand and giving Peridot those half-lidded eyes that sent her heart into a fit.

“You and Jasper,” Peridot explained a bit reluctantly. “Jasper seemed so… you know…”

“Brutish and intimidating?” Lapis laughed. “She does give off that vibe, doesn’t she?”

“What’s she _actually_ like?” Peridot’s curiosity knew no social bounds, leaning in a bit subconsciously, hands tucked between her legs.

Lapis put on the most sarcastically serious of serious expressions. “To understand the beast that is Jasper, you must first understand the origins of the Jasper.”

“Let me guess,” Peridot snorted snidely. “Secret government experiment to create the Hulk?”

Lapis wrinkled her nose, though her eyes sparkled with affection. “You nerd.”

Peridot shoved her glasses up her nose, eliciting a laugh out of Lapis, the sound of which put a lopsided, sheepish smile onto her own face.

“Alright,” Lapis smirked. “Three guesses: what do you think Jasper majored in at college?”

Peridot laughed. “Is weight-lifting a major..?”

Lapis grinned, stifling a laugh. “Nope. You’re never gonna get it.”

Peridot thought harder, her competitive nature kicking in. “Physical therapy..?”

Lapis shook her head, grinning harder.

Peridot screwed up her face as she thought as hard as she could. “Woman’s Studies..?”

“Law,” Lapis smirked.

Peridot’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief. “Nuh-uh!”

“Yeah,” Lapis boasted. “She was gonna be a lawyer. Defense attorney. Had an internship lined up at this big law firm and everything.”

“What happened??” Peridot was all ears, absolutely enthralled with the thought of the spitting image of Artemis in a pantsuit.

Lapis shrugged. “I honestly have no clue. I’ve still only managed to gather a handful of the puzzle pieces that constitute her life. She was involved in some sort of gang or something, because I know at one point she was an informant for the FBI. Hell, she might even be in witness protection, who knows? And her passport, oh man! I found it when I was snooping once; you wouldn’t _believe_ the places she’s been!”

“I had no idea she had more going on than just… biceps…” Peridot flexed her own arms in an attempt to mimic Jasper, only succeeding in showing off how she was the very antithesis of a body builder.

“And what about you, eh?” Lapis probed, voice languid, reaching Peridot’s ears and immediately setting them burning with awkwardness. “Surely there’s more going on than just… a nerd in a hoodie..?”

Suddenly, all Peridot could recall of her life was all her deepest darkest secrets; not a single normal fact about herself was coming to mind.

“Sh-Shouldn’t we save the “All About Me” type stories for our date tomorrow?” She stammered, struggling to click her seatbelt unfastened and find the handle for the door.

“Date?” Lapis practically purred, and Peridot didn’t dare look to see what devilishly charming face she put on to accompany the voice.

“ _Night out_ ,” Peridot corrected stiffly, quite literally tumbling out of the car as the door gave way and opened.

She found her feet and began to walk around the car towards the 24-Hour Mart doors, Lapis ending up at her side.

“Well, you see, I was thinking…” Lapis mused aloud in matter-of-fact tone. “We’re already out. We might as well get all that tedious “10 Things You Should Know About Me” jargon out of the way. You know, so we can have some _actual_ conversation tomorrow?”

“Okay…” Peridot caved, stuffing her hands into her pouch pocket as her anxiety caused prickles to rush up and down her spine. “But you go first.”

“Fair enough,” Lapis shrugged. “Hi, my name’s Lapis Ann Lazuli.”

She stuck out her hand stiffly, and it took Peridot a minute before she realized what was going on, freeing a hand from her pocket to complete the handshake.

Satisfied, Lapis continued. “I like sushi and long walks on the beach. Rain is my favorite weather. Spring is my favorite season. My favorite colors are cobalt and turquoise, though in all honestly really cool shades of grey are pretty neat too. I was an art major in college. Well,” She laughed; Peridot smiled without realizing. “I _was_ for like a month. You see, my parents saved up all this money to get me through college; only child, two working parents, yatta yatta yatta. So I got into this prestigious art college, and they slid all the money into my bank account, saying I was an “adult” who was “responsible” and shit. It was supposed to get me through college. Well, after a little over a month of classes, I realized I _hated_ college. I just wanted to draw and paint, not take four different classes on when to use the twenty different types of pencil lead. So I dropped out, bought a plane ticket, ended up in London. I traveled all around Europe, visiting all the sights, drawing them when I wanted. And late at night, I would stay up photoshopping myself into stock photos of college campuses and sending them to my parents. They didn’t suspect a damn thing until the semester came to a close and my grades were nonexistent. They called the school and found out I wasn’t enrolled.”

“Yikes…” Peridot felt her chest tighten up just at the thought of _that_ conversation.

“Yeah,” Lapis smiled a bit sheepishly. “They cut ties with me faster than you can say ‘disowned’. I had moved the money into this Swedish bank account I made for laughs, which was just enough to get me back in the states and keep me on my feet for a few months. Jasper put up an ad looking for a roommate and potential business partner, I replied, and we’ve been living together ever since. Lived in several different cities. A couple that weren’t in the States. It’s been an adventure, that’s for sure.”

“What exactly do you two do?” Peridot wondered aloud.

“What, in bed?” Lapis wiggled her eyebrows; Peridot turned ghostly pale. “I’m kidding, nerd-for-brains.” She touched Peridot’s shoulder in assurance, and the blush it brought to Peridot’s cheeks was enough to even out the aforementioned paleness.

“We do odd jobs,” Lapis continued, hand returning to gesturing zealously as they did when she talked. “Literally. We hunt for people looking for help—plumbing, electricity, pest extermination, pet-sitting—and we pretend we have the qualifications to get the job done. Mostly it goes off without a cinch. It can get a little hairy though… every now and again…”

Suddenly, Lapis was smiling, smirking almost, as she turned her attention back down to Peridot, who gazed in complete attentiveness as she listened to Lapis’ lilted voice, absorbed with her words as equally as she was by the sheer aesthetic of syllables and intonation.

“How ‘bout you?” Lapis turned the tables of the conversation on the short-statured Doctor-Frankenstein-haired freckled-face bespectacled comfily-clothed chick from down the hall. “Give me your spiel, Mulder.”

Peridot stammered. “W-Well it’s nothing quite as interesting as yours… o-or Jasper’s, for that matter…”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Lapis plucked a family-sized bulk box of cheap mac-and-cheese, handing it off to Peridot as her eyes roved the haphazard shelves of the 24-Hour Mart. “Everyone’s got their party stories. I wanna hear yours.”

“Well…” Peridot began uncertainly, struggling to hold the bulk box of mac-and-cheese, grunting as Lapis began to create a pile on top. “For starters, I _do_ like the X-Files…”

“Go figure,” Lapis sneered, though somehow managing to sound more endearing than snide.

“I mean, I like a lot of nerdy things; we can just sum it up, I suppose…”

“No no,” Lapis interrupted, fingers plucking a can of confetti frosting from the shelves, tugging off the lid and the foil seal with it, scooping a big dollop onto her finger and sticking it into her mouth, pulling her finger out clean and going back into for a double dip; she hummed with delight from the sugary goodness. “I want all the nerdy details, Peri. Every last one. If they’re important to you, they’re important to me.”

“O-Okay…” Peridot felt herself blushing intensely, which only got worse when Lapis switched hands and scooped up frosting onto a clean finger to offer to Peridot.

“Wants some..?” There it was again, that purr-like tone, those half-lidded eyes, that suggestive smile.

“U-U-U-Uhh… I-I-I—” Peridot was sure she was beet red from the tips of her toes to the roots of her hair. “S-Sure…?”

Lapis smiled innocently, leaning in and dabbing the frosting onto Peridot’s nose. “Let’s find out if you can reach your nose with your tongue.”

Peridot sat stewing beneath a haughty glare, though her eyes still glittered with unchecked adoration she was unaware she was expressing so openly. “Well what about _you_?”

Lapis dotted her nose with frosting, waggling her eyebrows as her tongue reached up and easily swiped the sugary substance clean off. Peridot sulked harder, trying desperately to stretch her tongue to her nose when she was certain Lapis wasn’t watching. Lapis’ smothered snorts of amusement said otherwise.

“Come on Peridot,” Lapis tapped at her the back of her wrist where she might have kept a watch. “Let’s hear all the little nerdy details about you.”

“Where do I even begin?” Peridot laughed to herself, eliciting a soft smile to Lapis’ face. “Well, you see, when I was very little, this thing showed up out of nowhere called _Pokemon_ …”

What started as a quick trip to escape a wrathful Jasper quickly became two full hours of back-and-forth storytelling while snacking on the hood of Lapis’ Mustang. Peridot was leaning back into the windshield, having shed her hoodie at some point, leaving her in in a loose black tank top that gaped open around the neck and arms to expose her lime green racerback bra. She had her eyes shut, arms crossed behind her head, ears keying into the swell and ebb of Lapis’ voice as went on and on about all the best drunken shenanigans she had gotten into. The car was surrounded by half-eaten chip bags, two empty cans of frosting—the third sat just barely touched between Lapis and Peridot on the hood—and a couple empty coffee cups. The night had gone quiet, having become past one in the morning on a weeknight. Peridot felt the car jostle on its suspension as Lapis scooted herself up beside Peridot, wearing nothing but a paper-thin white cotton top and skin-tight dark-wash jeans, her plaid long-sleeved shirt having been taken off and tied around her waist long ago.

“Hey,” Lapis’ voice drifted lazily in the night to reach Peridot’s ear.

Peridot hummed in inquiry. In the silence that followed, she opened her eyes to find Lapis awfully close, pupils dilated, eyes a bit distant yet  _very_ direct all at once, tongue peeking out just the slightest to taste the lingering essence of frosting on her lips. And for once, Peridot allowed herself to stare back, at the summer freckles fading away into her perfect rosy skin, at her stormy blue-grey eyes, at the flecks of gold that clustered around the very center of her irises, at the soft curves of her nose which flared with heavy breath, at the curtain of blue bangs that pulled Peridot’s eyes to trail the shape of her hair in all its somehow disheveled perfection, the color so utterly blue her hands twitched with the desire to reach out and assure her brain it was real. In fact, Peridot needed assurance that _everything_ was real. The car dipped again as Lapis slide herself ever closer.

“This…. I liked this…” Lapis continued, her voice hitching with a huskiness that sent Peridot’s head spinning and something deep inside her absolutely aching.

“Yeah…” Peridot was surprised at the hiccupped unevenness of her own voice, almost too thick to make words out of; she swallowed, face heating up at the quiet realization of her own arousal. “It—…. It was nice to just… talk…”

“We could…” Lapis’ voice was like a hand coaxing Peridot along mentally, full of inclination and opportunity. “We could do more than just _talk_ , you know…”

Peridot felt her spine light up like she had been struck by lightning, sending a _zing_ into her toes, her fingertips, into her head and absolutely frying her brain. She did nothing but stare, stare into the wonderful, lusting stormy blue eyes of the blue-haired chick from down the hall.

Lapis waited as long as she could before filling the expectant silence. “Obviously, we don’t ha—”

Peridot pushed herself up with one arm and silenced Lapis with a sudden and exuberant kiss, pulling away quite quickly after a moment as the anxiety began to flood her head with thoughts and fears that accumulated into _I can’t believe you’ve done this_!

“I-I’m sorry, I—!!” Peridot stammered, though it was she who was cut short in a startled and muffled squeak as Lapis’ hand bunched up in her tank top and yanked her back into the kiss.

The kiss itself remained chaste, close-lipped and gentle, but Lapis’ hands got a little indulgent. Her free hand found Peridot’s hair and clamped down in an ensnaring vice, while the hand gripping tight to Peridot’s shirt eased up and instead trailed dangerously low over Peridot’s stomach. Peridot herself would be lying if she didn’t admit her own hands got a little overzealous, tangling in hair, curling over shoulders, digging into hips. She couldn’t help but wonder if she was giving Lapis butterflies in the same way Lapis’ hand tugging on her hair and her fingers ghosting down to her waistline sent Peridot’s stomach fluttering with excitable nervousness. Peridot didn’t realize she had shut her eyes until Lapis suddenly spoke.

“Peridot…” Her voice was soft, hardly even a whisper, but the evenness of her tone sent a dreadful pang racking Peridot’s insides.

Peridot knew what was coming, stammering out the words herself as she blinked open her eyes. “We should get home…”

Lapis nodded just a bit, her eyes having shifted to look elsewhere but the hazy lustfulness glimmering notably in the light of a streetlamp nearby.

It was a real effort for both of them to retrieve their hands from one another and pry their persons from the hood of the car. Peridot had never been worse for wear, her mind still screaming for her hands to reach back out and her lips to meet with Lapis’ again, and her body physically groaned with a hollowness that demanded filling in one way or another. Quick to distract herself, Peridot fussed over all the trash they had produced around the car, gathering it all up and delivering it to the municipal trashcan at the edge of the parking lot. By the time she returned to the car, Peridot had mustered up the courage to look at Lapis again, immediately regretting her decision. Her hair was tousled—Peridot had _made_ it that way—and her eyes still hungered as clear as the day, fingers drumming on the open driver’s side door that she leaned on while waiting on Peridot.

“Car’s started,” Lapis stated matter-of-factly, though in the heightened state of arousal Peridot found herself stuck in, she keyed into the undertones of lust and desire that refused to melt away in Lapis' voice.

Peridot didn’t trust herself to get a word out edgewise, quite sure anything that tumbled out of her mouth at the moment would either be an embarrassing “Want to take this back to my place?” or a far more embarrassing “I love you”. Instead, she climbed into the passenger seat where she had abandoned her hoodie and buckled in, head ducked in silence and hands clasping far too viciously to one another in an attempt to appear placid. Lapis climbed into her seat, revved the engine, and sped the two of them from the parking lot to the road, cruising down the traffic-free streets in perfect silence.

They parked the car in the apartment lot in perfect silence.

They walked into the apartment building in perfect silence.

They climbed the stairs to the fourth floor in perfect silence.

They were both seeking out their keys near Lapis’ apartment door when she finally broke the silence.

“Hey Peri, hold up.”

Peridot stopped, turning back around to see Lapis jostle her door open and disappear inside. Curious, Peridot retraced her steps back to Lapis’ door, waiting patiently outside for Lapis’ return. It was hardly thirty seconds before the door swung inwards, and Lapis appeared leaning in her doorway.

“Gimme your hand,” She instructed simply.

Peridot held out her hand. Lapis took it in one of hers and produced a pen out of thin air with the other, scratching something into Peridot’s hand with the ballpoint tip. When she let go, Peridot immediately looked at what had been written, heart doing a summersault to find it was a phone number.

“Don’t go and wash it off now,” Lapis warned, an easy smile finally finding its way to her face after the seemingly eternal car-ride of silence. “Keep me posted on details for tomorrow—well, guess it’s _today_ now, isn’t it? Just keep me posted.”

“Yeah, of course,” Peridot replied, a bit shocked by the steadiness of her own voice; her insides still felt like they were made of equal parts jello and the fires of hell.

“If it’s anything like our little preliminary date tonight, our real first date is sure to be one for the books!” Lapis gave a wink, one of those far-too-fast winks that left Peridot blushing where she stood. “Sleep tight Peridot.”

“You too,” She swallowed, standing there with the phone number on her palm turned to face her until the moment the door clicked shut gently in her face.

Peridot turned and walked down the hall to her own apartment, struggling with the lock for a minute before shoving the door in and shutting it quietly behind her. _One for the books_ ; Peridot couldn’t get the thought out of her head, and for good reason it seemed. She tossed aside her hoodie in favor for the journal that sat at her desk. Peridot flipped to the first page. _Peridot’s 101 Reasons to Keep On Keeping On … And 101 More_. She opened to the next blank page, about halfway through the journal. She titled the page _Reason 102_. In the lined space below, Peridot took a pen and began to scrawl very purposefully despite the gathering clouds of exhaustion in her head. Peridot set the pen aside on the desk and stared down at her journal, unable to pry her eyes away from what she had written. She stared for several long minutes. She came back to the open page many times and she readied herself for bed. It was the last thing she looked out before shutting off all the lights. The page read, in big purposeful letters: _Lapis Ann Lazuli_.


	5. The Date™

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot awaits Lapis for their first date.

If there was anything Peridot was certain of, standing alone on the street corner with the sounds of yelling and rough housing and sound-checking jarring her ears, the bitterly sharp air nipping at her more-exposed-than-normal skin, her eyes burning holes into her phone screen from the endless and anxious staring, she was certain this night would be the death of her. Her mind, smoking a bit from all the _what-if_ s she had gone over and all the worst case scenarios she had played through, had become rather one track once her feet scuffed to a halt at the corner of Main St and the boardwalk. She had whipped out her phone immediately and texted Lapis: _On the corner of Main and the boardwalk. Meet me there?_

That had been over fifteen minutes ago.

Peridot’s pointer fingers gouged nervously at the side of her thumbs, and had turned the poor digits into bloody messes with the rising tide of anxiety.

Lapis hadn’t responded.

The taste of blood was sharp and bitter as Peridot’s teeth found her low lip for the millionth time, having already gnawed it to bleeding shreds, sucking to keep the blood from dripping down her chin.

Was Lapis bailing??

Peridot’s eyes felt like they had been set on fire as they scanned over phone screen again and again, unblinking, reading and re-reading her text, considering and reconsidering all the ways she could have phrased herself better.

A tiny line of grey words appeared beneath her text bubble: _Read at 10:58PM_.

She turned off the phone screen and tucked the device into her pocket, forcing herself to be content with the less-than-satisfactory response to her text. Lapis had seen it. Lapis knew where to find her. Peridot pushed her glasses up her nose closer to her face; now she just had to wait.

In terms of sprucing up for her first date with the mind-boggling Lapis, Peridot had spent hours planning her outfit to ensure all elements meshed with one another and gave off the proper rock concert vibe without looking like she had put an entire day’s worth of thought into the look. She was dressed in a loose-fitting white tank top--a piece of ODESZZA concert memorabilia depicting their iconic icosahedron colored in a metallic hodgepodge of oranges and yellows with the band name written in the same color scheme below—overtop of which she sported a leather vest with too many pockets to count, finishing the look off with heavily ripped stonewash jeans bunched up into her dirty white converse high-tops. The late-night October air bit at her bare arms, and the shreds of denim someone marketed as jeans did little to keep her legs warm either. Peridot knew that despite the chill of the outdoors, the warehouse would feel like an oven with its poor ventilation and the hundreds of bodies that would pack together to watch the bands play, so she dressed accordingly. She began to wonder if Lapis knew how hot it was bound to be. Peridot shook her head, chiding herself internally; of course Lapis knew. If Lapis had said she invented rock and roll, Peridot would have believed it in a heartbeat.

Peridot stood at the street corner—feet tapping insistently and hands toying with the edges of her clothing—for what she was certain had to be an eternity. She checked her phone; it had been two minutes since Lapis had seen her text but didn’t reply. She stared at her recent text threads, chewing her lip as she eyed up Amethyst’s. Peridot’s were-pal was right inside the warehouse, having brought along her friend Vidalia to replace Peridot as her plus one. Peridot knew Vidalia. She knew what sort of people Vidalia liked to hang around. She knew what kind of trouble Vidalia liked to get into. Peridot had _been_ that trouble on more than one occasion. Which meant Peridot _hated_ Vidalia, and consequently, _hated_ that Amethyst was hanging out with Vidalia. _Vidalia._ The last thing Peridot wanted was for Amethyst to come and rescue her from her flop of a date, with _Vidalia_ in tow, with Vidalia witnessing Peridot’s failed attempt at being anything more than a homebody loser of a vampire pretender. Her words, not Peridot’s.

Peridot shoved her phone back into her pocket once more. There would be no rescue from Amethyst. There would be no sneering from Vidalia. And apparently, there would be no date with Lapis either.

Peridot shoved her hands into the pockets of her leather vest and turned the corner to head down Main Street and back to her apartment. And there was Lapis. With a guy.

The first thing that struck Peridot was Lapis’ get-up, the sight of which clamped a vice onto Peridot’s poor little heart. Three-quarter sleeve fishnet top underneath an oversized classic Nirvana tee—the one with the crooked smiley face—that had the sleeves cut deep into the sides to make the tee a tank top, a short very-dark plaid skirt overtop practically see-through black leggings that ended in matte-black combat boots, and the cherry on top: a black knit beanie slouching overtop her far too blue hair. Not to mention the dark lipstick and perfect line of slightly winged eyeliner around already brilliantly lush and dark lashes. But then there was _him_ , whoever the hell he was! Black skinny jeans, black t-shirt, black Keds, black hair… Peridot was about complete his look with one hell of a black eye! But her fists stayed clenched at her sides, her feet becoming one with the concrete as the two approached her at their languid pace, chatting up a storm with coffees in hand.

“So yeah, not to brag, but I’m _kind_ of a big deal,” The guy scoffed, flashing a sickly smug smile towards Lapis, who accepted the look with a gracious brightening of her features.

“You don’t say!” She breathed in awe, her expression warm and inviting but her eyes as dead as a shark's.

“Oh you know, I—”

The guy cut himself short as he caught sight of Peridot blocking their path, their eyes meeting for just a moment before both of them looked away as fast as they could. Peridot’s head stung from the _zing_ of what could only be described as electricity the moment their eyes met. She hated when that happened...

“Oh look!” Lapis chimed, smug satisfaction oozing into her carefully sculpted tone. “That’d be my date!”

“ _She’s_ your—?” The guy put a lot of emphasis on the _she_ , pulling a face as he did.

“You bet your ass I am.” Peridot snapped, knowing very well that she was seething with all sorts of vampiric hostility, the sort of thing humans couldn’t detect. But this guy picked up on all of it, every last furious shred.

“Here you go, babe,” Lapis beamed, handing her half-empty coffee over to Peridot, who was only temporarily thunder-shocked at the word _babe_ coming from Lapis’ mouth and referring to her. “Free coffee, courtesy of… I’m sorry, what was your name again..?”

Picking up on the vibes coming now from both girls, the guy in black hunched his shoulders, taking one heck of a hint. “Forget it. I’m gone.”

“Oh, okay, bye!” Lapis chimed pleasantly as she waved the guy off, watching only briefly as he stalked down the boardwalk to the warehouse. “ _Man_ that guy was annoying!”

Peridot didn’t say a word, staring at Lapis with an unreadable expression. Lapis caught the look, playful smile falling from her face in favor on a more apologetic look.

“Hey, sorry about that,” She cocked her head, a lopsided smile coming to her face. “But he offered me free coffee. And I thought you might like some.” She shrugged. “What can I say? I’m cheap. And not above some harmless manipulation of a dick on two legs.”

Lapis smiled like an angel, and Peridot found herself perfectly dazzled by the glitter in her metallic eyeshadow and the shimmer of streetlights in her eyes. “We cool…?”

“I don’t know about you,” Peridot snorted disdainfully, gesturing to herself. “But _I’m_ cool.”

Lapis’ face returned to that half-lidded smirk of amusement. “You’re a dork.”

“But I’m _your_ dork for the night!” Peridot felt her ears turn hot as the line tumbled from her mouth, free hand shooting a finger gun in what she hoped was a charming gesture, wishing she could reach out and erase the whole god-awful moment from history.

Lapis looked to Peridot, covering the several inches of height difference with her eyes. “My dork for the night, huh? Don’t mind if I do.”

She reached out a hand, and Peridot’s heart stood still. “Shall we?”

There was a moment, as long as a lifetime, where Peridot was certain she would wake up from whatever fantasy dream she was having. And then she stayed in the fantasy. So she took Lapis’ hand.

Lapis smiled softly, bringing a whole new wave of blushes crashing onto Peridot’s already red face, and then took off walking towards the warehouse, tugging Peridot along with her. Peridot let out the breath she had been holding for far too long.

“So…” Lapis struck up conversation. “We might have a problem.”

“Y-Yeah..?” Peridot’s voice came out crackling like the puberty-ridden teen boy she smelled like on account of her bath of Axe.

“Yeah,” Lapis replied, doing her very best to kill the giggles already slipping free of her control. “Dick-For-Brains—the guy who bought us coffee?—said that this thing is apparently a 'supernaturals-only' type gig.”

Peridot felt her knees go weak, alarm bells jarring in her head. “Oh, really..?” She shook herself, speeding up her feet to take the lead. “Don’t worry. I’ve got this!”

Fingers tucked in the spaces between Lapis’, Peridot led her date down the boardwalk, downing what coffee was left in Lapis’ offering in one gulp and tossing the cup into a street-side trash can as they reached the warehouse, where a hulk of a man stood at the door, arms crossed.

“I’m gonna need to see some ID,” He growled. One whiff of the guy and Peridot got werewolf loud and clear; a little too loud, in fact, muddying her senses.

Peridot dove her free hand into her pocket—refusing to let go of Lapis—and pulled out her wallet, doing quite a bit of juggling with her elbows and arms to hold the wallet still as she pulled one of her three IDs free: her ID that labeled her a Vampire but claimed her to be twenty-two.

“She’s with me,” Peridot stated firmly as she shoved her ID in the bouncer’s face. After what she decided should be sufficient time to look at her ID, Peridot marched herself into the warehouse, only to be stopped by one huge meaty hand in her face.

“She needs ID,” The bouncer stated simply, though a tinge of annoyance in his tone.

Peridot opened her mouth to protest, or persuade, or curse the guy out—she wasn’t too sure which—when Lapis silenced her with a simple hand wave, pulling out an ID of her own.

“Here.”

The bouncer stared long and hard at the ID, then begrudgingly stepped aside. A smirking Lapis paraded her way into the warehouse with a baffled Peridot in tow, turning to her vertically-challenged date once they were sufficiently out of the bouncer’s earshot, taking up Peridot’s ID into her free hand.

“Wow! This is a good fake!” Lapis giggled.

Peridot grinned proudly. “Yeah, it is, isn’t it?”

Lapis gave her humored look. “But Vampire though… seems a bit risky. I went with Witch myself. A lot easier to pull off should someone call you out.”

“Huh…?” Peridot’s mind worked overtime to catch up to where Lapis was thinking.

“Well, I heard that vampires can, like, do this thing…” Lapis pulled a menacing face, placing two fingers of each hand at either of her temples. “It’s like… they can sense other vampires.”

Peridot’s face drained of all color, the air suddenly too hard to breathe. “Y-Yeah…?”

“Yeah, so if your bouncer was a vampire, they could tell right away that you were bluffing. Good thing that guy wasn’t!” Lapis laughed.

“Heh,” Peridot forced a laugh and a sheepish smile. “Good thing…”

Before either of them could get another word in, the deafening and static-filled buzz of a guitar cord shook the entire establishment, eliciting a collective and wild cheer from everyone packed into the warehouse.

“It’s starting!” Lapis’ spoke at full excited volume, but Peridot heard only the faintest whisper, distinguishable on account of the visual of Lapis’ mouth forming the words. “Come on!!”

Led by the hand, Peridot let herself be tugged along by Lapis, who threaded the two of them through the crowds to a better spot closer to the stage. With three clicks of the drumsticks, the band on stage launched into their first song, full of angsty speaker static and shouted muffled vocals. The volume of it all was sending Peridot’s head spinning. One look confirmed her fears: all the visually obvious vampires in the warehouse had gathered near the back of the establishment to avoid scrambling their senses from the overstimulation. Most of the weres knew how to adjust their hearing to the volume, and the witches and wizards didn’t have super-senses to worry about overwhelming. Peridot wasn’t so sure about the miscellaneous supernatural sorts, but by the looks of it, they weren’t bothered by the volume. Nope, just Peridot, the only vampire stupid enough to stand in proximity to the stage. It almost wasn’t worth it. But there was Lapis, smiling brighter than Peridot had ever seen her look, eyes dancing from the lights of the stage. _Almost_.

Peridot did her very best to survive, head tucked down, eyes scrunched shut as she used every last bit of her mental concentration to habituate herself. Tune out the chest-tightening _whump_ of the bass pedal on the drums, the auditory equivalent of a shimmer that was the crash of drumsticks on cymbals, the low and powerful rumble of a steady bass riff, the whine of a guitar solo poorly executed. She was just beginning to find a little relief when all Peridot’s focus was dashed by the screech of feedback in the speakers, sending her instantly pushing through the crowd to put some distance between herself and the stage. The people were packed in worse than sardines, and the sheer amount of adrenaline and second-hand hostility was as strong and overwhelming in the air as the heat building from off the bodies. Peridot finally pushed free of the last row of people, gasping for air as she shuffled over to the vampire-lined wall, the music a much more manageable roar in her ears, which she pawed at incessantly from a lingering ringing.

Someone somewhere scoffed. “What, were you right next to the stage, half-breed?”

Peridot hissed aggressively, fangs popping out in response to her outburst. It was a poor move, as the guy who had spoken suddenly had eight other vampires up in arms against her, fangs out and pupils constricting with the intent of violence. Peridot planted herself firmly, fists clenched but mentally pushing herself to calm down, knowing that the only thing that could stop a vampire fight was the dying down of aggression signals. But her instincts, despite all her effort, refused to let her be anything but aggressive. Her eyes shut tight to increase her ability to concentrate and mellow out. A hand grabbed onto her shirt and yanked her forward, a punch undoubtedly cocked and ready.

“Peridot..?” Lapis’ voice reached Peridot, grabbing her attention by the lapels; Peridot hadn’t even noticed the band had quit playing, leaving the warehouse a whole lot quieter.

“Lapis..!!”

Peridot’s voice caused Lapis to appear from the crowd, her face turning a bit dark as she eyed up her date and the chick who was seconds away from giving her a black eye. Lapis’ sudden emergence distracted the lot of them, and Peridot found herself released; the vampires barred their fangs but slinked back to their place on the wall. Lapis rushed over, hands on Peridot’s arms as her eyes rushed to make sure the smaller girl was okay.

“You alright?” Lapis breathed in disbelief, eyes snapping over to the vampires. “What the hell was that all about?”

Peridot’s fangs snapped back away before Lapis had time to spot them, much to her relief. “It was nothing… Th-They called me a blood-sack and I called them all a bunch of dirty parasites…”

Lapis’ eye roll came through loud and clear in her tone. “Peridot! That was stupid of you.”

“What can I say?” Peridot shrugged, finding herself grinning. “I’m a dork _and_ an idiot..!”

Lapis smiled, the kind of smile that seemed perfectly innocent, but coupled with the light in her eyes, was suddenly all sorts of suggestive. “God you’re cute…”

Peridot felt her chest clench something awful, voice dying in her throat as her soul ascended elsewhere, Lapis’ hands still on her arms, finding their way to her hands. Peridot stared at them as they toyed with her fingers, startled by Lapis’ voice as it came suddenly much closer, much softer, much sultrier.

“Hey Peridot…?”

Peridot gulped visibly, only succeeding in burying her voice further from reach, keeping her head firmly bowed where it was, eyes stuck on her hands, _their_ hands…

“Let’s dance.” The words came a mere hairsbreadth from Peridot’s ear, ghosting over the sensitive skin and sending shivers down from her neck through her shoulders like soda pop fizzing beneath her skin.

The toying of Lapis’ hands turning into firm grips as she tugged Peridot to a better spot in the warehouse, eyes glinting with mischief but smile all manner of sweet. A new band had taken the stage, one which Peridot recognized the moment they began playing. It was Steven and the Stevens, a band consisting of one wizard teen and his three magically-projected instrument-playing clones. They had a good sound, a real light-hearted throwback to early rock and roll. Just the sort of sounds that gave Peridot that itch to tap along, maybe nod her head, perhaps even do something vaguely dance-ish with her hands—but no matter the circumstance, Peridot wouldn’t full-on _dance_. Well, _couldn’t_ , more accurately…

But there was Lapis. Expectant, excitable, living through the music, looking to dance. And Peridot couldn’t disappoint. Not with the heartstrings this woman was tugging on so ruthlessly.

“Come on,” Lapis teased. “Don’t tell me someone who has watched every single season of _So You Think You Can Dance_ can’t actually dance..?”

“And I thought _you_ only danced after at least three beers, o-or one beer and four shots…”

Lapis grinned, tugging Peridot’s hands to pull her in closer, the two of them only inches apart. “So you _were_ listening…”

“ _Me?_ ” Peridot interjected indignantly. “I thought that  _you_ tuned me out after my top five favorite animes and that drawn out explanation about how ice cream trumps gelato in all notable ways…”

“What? No way!” Lapis laughed, dropping one of Peridot’s hands in favor of taking a hold of her date around the waist. “But who can blame me? You’re absolutely _riveting_ when you rant.”

Peridot found herself with a free hand and no idea what to do with it.

“Shoulder,” Lapis offered helpfully, an amused little grin spreading onto her features.

Peridot put her hand on Lapis’ shoulder—it was a bit of stretch—face burning with embarrassment and a scowl coming to her visage to drown out the awkwardness she was quite overwhelmed with. “Well let me tell _you¸_ I had to work _hard_ to stay awake through _your_ anecdo—…”

Peridot’s voice cut out with a squeak as Lapis gave her a very sudden twirl, then cut the twirling short by tugging her in close by the waist. Peridot looked up in shock, coming face to face with those dangerous hooded eyes and easy smile.

“You were saying..?” Lapis purred teasingly.

Peridot’s jaw just about hit the floor. Lapis did her best to smother her giggles.

“Come on, dork. Dance with me!”

“I-I-I c-can’t dance…” Peridot stuttered automatically, eyes still fixated on Lapis’ expression.

“Well neither can I. I’m not drunk enough.” She shrugged, offering up a small smile as she held out her free hand in offering. “Let’s just have fun with it.”

Though still fifty shades of reluctant, Peridot did her best to shove down the fear with one final, nervous gulp, placing her hand back in Lapis’ and the other back on her shoulder.

Able to feel her date shaking beneath her touch, Lapis did her very best to lighten the mood, sticking out her tongue a bit in a crude expression of humor and thickening her voice into her best pompous British accent.

“Shall we?”

Peridot snorted despite herself, admittedly feeling more relaxed from the shenanigans. “Why the hell not…?”

And so they danced. It was nothing graceful by any measure, too full of trampled toes and little trips over one another and a ridiculous amount of giggling, but it still counted as dancing. As the classic rock and roll continued to play, what started as a horrific two-step quickly became the twist, something both of them got a little too competitive with despite all the continued giggling and blushing. Before long, any organization to their dancing dissolved away, leaving the two of them experimenting with the running man, the funky chicken... each move more ridiculous than the last. It was Peridot who quit dancing first, cheeks flushed with secondhand embarrassment as Lapis demonstrated what she called “starting the lawnmower”. It took her a moment, but the minute Lapis realized Peridot had quit dancing, she redoubled her efforts to have her moving and grooving once more.

“Here, c’mere!” Lapis paused what she was doing to offer out a hand to Peridot, who took it without needing anymore coaxing.

Lapis grinned impishly, taking both of Peridot’s hand in her own, dancing something simple with twisting shoulders and hips and minimal footwork, easily drawing Peridot into matching her movements. Letting go of one of her hands, Lapis gave Peridot a quick twirl, then, without warning, dropped her into a dip that left Peridot frozen in shock and Lapis grinning like a wolf, hardly any distance between them as Lapis held the dip with surprising strength. Coincidentally, Steven and the Stevens had finished their set, resulting in an uproarious applause to explode from the audience around Peridot and Lapis. And for the two of them, caught up in their moment, the applause seemed to be just for them. _It was perfect,_ Peridot mused. Like something out of some sappy high school romance flick. Then a thought popped into her head quite suddenly: _It could be even_ more _perfect if she just_ …

Lapis closed the distance, meeting Peridot’s lips with her own.

Very quickly, their little kiss became more passionate as Peridot reciprocated and Lapis took that inch to go a mile. And in an instant, Peridot was melting, fingers gripping to Lapis’ waist to keep herself from falling, Lapis’ hands fisting into the back of Peridot’s jacket and into her hair, gripping as though to let go would mean the end of all things good and pure. But _good_ and _pure_ were not words that came to Peridot’s mind as Lapis mouth opened Peridot’s with far too much ease. Peridot felt her grip weaken and her eyes flutter shut as Lapis took it all a step further, exploring Peridot’s mouth with her tongue, eliciting a soft, unchecked moan from the shorter of the two, the sound of which had Lapis’ head spinning. Lapis was quick to find all the flaws in her plan as her hands tried to wander and Peridot nearly dropped to the floor, the shock of which had both of them sobered up just enough to come to their feet.

“Th-That—” Peridot couldn’t find the words, face burning from the heat of the moment, a hand rubbing the back of her head where she already missed the tug of Lapis’ fingers, eyes on anything but Lapis. “That was—”

“Wanna go somewhere else?” Lapis jumped the gun, her words tumbling out as fast as her heart was beating in her chest, voice low with a desire that sent shivers through Peridot.

“Yes please,” Peridot was agreeing before Lapis could even complete her request, her own voice grown slightly raspy, cracked with hormones.

“Good.”

Lapis had Peridot by the hand and was dragging her out of the warehouse the next instant, and the instant after that Peridot found herself pressed to the brick of the outside of the warehouse, tucked in the dark of a little alley, Lapis’ wanting kisses pressed hard onto her mouth, pressing harder still as they trailed down her neck. Peridot felt her toes press desperately in the confines of her shoes, pushing her up on tip-toes as Lapis began to incorporate her teeth. Peridot’s mind had become dangerously singular, maddeningly perturbed at the layers of clothes that stood between her hands and nothing-but-Lapis. It was blatantly obvious that Lapis’ mind was on the same page as her hands pressed firmly into Peridot’s hips, fingers trailing up and under her shirt, sending endless shivers through Peridot as those cold hands found skin.

“L-Lapis…” Peridot’s breath hitched, what was once a fog of lust in her head suddenly clearing away for a fear of going to too far too fast.

Lapis halted her loving work on Peridot’s neck to look her in the face, Peridot losing her ability to speak to the absolutely predatory look in those grey-blue eyes. The look faded, however, as Lapis recognized the fear in Peridot’s baby blues and returned her roaming hands to her sides.

“S-S-Sorry…” Lapis hurried to apologize, turning her head to look away from Peridot, voice filling with a sort of angry self-loathing as she continued. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I’m sorry, I—“

Hating to hear her voice sound as detrimental as it did, Peridot took to her tip-toes again to give Lapis another kiss, short-lived but intentions clear.

“Hey,” Peridot offered timidly, an askew smile coming to her face where her glasses sat crooked as all get out. “It’s cool. Can’t say I wasn’t enjoying it…”

Peridot realized after a moment of silence that Lapis was staring at her, face expressionless and eyes unreadable. The look was enough to send Peridot’s eyes to the ground and her hands fidgeting something awful.

“Do you…” Peridot gulped as her voice came out shaky. “Do you want to… I don’t know… go grab some fast food..? Or a coffee…? Or—…”

Lapis shook herself, putting on a sheepish smile, eyes turning all affectionate. “Yeah, that sounds—”

She cut herself short as her phone began to buzz from where she had stashed it in the hem of her skirt, tugging it free to look at the screen.

“Fuck…” She groaned, swiping to answer; Peridot watched expectantly in perfect silence. “Hey! No—… N—…. _NO_ —… _Jasper!!_.... _JASPER!!!_ Okay..!! _No, I said OKAY, are you fucking deaf—_ … Whatever... No, okay, yeah.  No, no, it’s fine. Alright…. _ALRIGHT_ … bye… _I SAID B—… ugh!!”_

Practically shoving her finger through her phone screen as she hung up the phone, Lapis looked absolutely pissed, muttering something indistinguishable to herself.

“Is… everything okay..?” Peridot wondered timidly.

“Yeah,” Lapis replied with a smile, though the cheer absent from her voice. “That was Jasper. I _may_ or _may not_ have neglected to tell her I was going out tonight… she’s kind of freaking out over it…”

Lapis laughed, but that too was devoid of any humor or feeling whatsoever. Peridot felt herself shrink, shoulders hiking themselves up and whole person tensing.

“I really hate to cut this thing short, but…” Lapis gave Peridot a sorry smile, pulling her away from the wall by her hands. “I have to go.”

“O-O-Okay…” Peridot’s voice came out quiet as she found herself all caught up in the marvel that was Lapis all over again, the scent of her perfume enough to make her knees weak.

Lapis leaned down and kissed her again, something so short and indulging that Peridot just knew the mere thought of it would leave her wide awake all night long, a surprised and muffled squeak slipping out in response.

Lapis pulled away ever so slightly, though retreating further as Peridot tried desperately to resume the kiss, causing a rather naughty grin to spread onto Lapis’ face, biting her lip to keep herself from giving into temptation. “I had fun.”

Peridot whined softly, and that almost did it for Lapis. _Almost_. “See you tomorrow, yeah?”

“Can’t we walk home together…?” Peridot struggled to form coherent words in the wake of Lapis’ soul-ascending kiss.

“Better not,” Lapis’ voice ghosted from her lips, her eyes dropping to look at where their hands were still tangled up gently with each other. “Jasper’s a little… _weird_ … about me and dating…”

“Oh…” The word came out automatically, then Peridot actually took in what Lapis said and the weight of her words hit her like a brick. “ _Oh_ …”

“I’ll catch you later, dork…” Lapis winked, untangling her hands from Peridot’s slowly, then slipped away before Peridot knew what was happening.

“B-Bye…” Peridot stammered, turning her head to watch Lapis exit the alley; she paused as she reached the street and blew a kiss before disappearing out of sight.

Peridot groaned, head falling back and hands raking her face in pure agony, absolutely certain she had bitten off more than she could chew with the mind-boggling Lapis Ann Lazuli. But _holy hell_ did she like it!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there! :D Let me know what you thought of this chapter!! Hearing from you guys makes continuing to write exponentially easier!! :)


	6. Four Quarters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day after the big date, Peridot's anxiety gets the best of her.

A long, sleepless night painted itself on Peridot’s face in the circles around her eyes, the constant flutter of her heavy eyelids, the cavernous yawns that broke frequent gaps in her soft breathing, the awkwardly angled mess of hair atop her head styled by hours of tossing and turning. It decorated the room with coffee grounds spilled on the counter beside an overworked coffee maker still trying to cool off, a half-finished mug of the heavily doctored caffeinated beverage sitting cold and forgotten beside Peridot. She slouched comfortably in a beanbag with the covers from her bed draped around her, bare feet stretched out and freezing with toes flexing in boredom, her legs bare as well up until the pair of green polka-dotted pink underwear, concealed beneath an extremely oversized grey t-shirt marked by the faded 1966 Batman logo. Though her night had been a rough one to say the least, Peridot did her very best to make her day productive before having to leave for work just after sundown, which was becoming increasingly earlier as autumn drug on towards an inevitably harsh winter. She had her laptop balanced on her lap, a live podcast of her Software II class streaming in one window while she took a quiz for her mandatory Vampire Biology class in another. In her arms Peridot cradled a huge bowl of Kraft macaroni and cheese, wolfing it down in huge hasty spoonfuls, the aftermath of the dish crowding the tiny kitchen with dirty pots and empty packets. It was a lazy afternoon, though productive, and Peridot wouldn’t have had it any other way.

 _What happens to an induvial affected with vampirism should they become exposed to sunlight?_ Peridot hated this class. She hated that she had to take it because _she_ was a vampire. She hated most of all the non-vampire individuals who took the class looking to be some sort of social justice hero. She clicked on _They die_ and hit submit on the question. The screen refreshed, showing a big red X through her answer, the correct answer highlighted: _They become rapidly affected with illness that is almost always fatal_. The laptop snapped shut beneath Peridot’s angry hand, shoving it from her lap to brood over her mac and cheese. She _really_ hated that class. It was hardly a moment before he hand was reaching for her phone, Peridot quietly baffled as to why the device was halfway across the room, stretching to her full extent to reach the phone without leaving her comfortable nest of bean bag and blanket. Snagging the screen with her fingertips, she reeled the device into her grip, body snapping back in place like a rubber band and curling up around the phone, swiping the screen open to the last thing she had been doing. And then it was painfully clear why she had tossed the thing across the room earlier. Lapis. Peridot hadn’t heard a single thing from her neighbor since she left her in the alley…

Peridot’s face flushed bright red at the thought, fingers rushing to pull _something_ up on her phone to distract herself as her head began to fill with the same dirty thoughts that had caused her night to be sleepless. She ended up on her food intake app, which inquired in big floppy pastel letters is she had eaten breakfast. Eyeing up the scraps of mac and cheese left in the cheese-coated bowl, Peridot tapped the _Yes_ button. _What did you have for breakfast?_ _Breakfast_ , Peridot snorted in soft amusement, thinking back to when Lapis and Jasper had come pounding her door down over their breakfast dispute. That’d been Sunday. Had it only been five days since they moved in? Peridot whistled in disbelief. Five days and Peridot and Lapis were already— _No no no don’t think about it!!_ Peridot screamed at herself internally, burying her face in her phone as she worked in input her mac and cheese into her app. _Serving size?_ Peridot eyed up her bowl. One serving..? Two…? Oh. The app had an option for the entire box; she clicked that option. Turns out that was three whole servings. Peridot’s stomach churned at the thought. Now she needed to distract herself from the thought of Lapis _and_ food… Lapis and eating… eating L— _oh god not that!!_

Scrambling up from her nest, Peridot’s eyes raked across her studio apartment to come up with some sort of distraction. The sink was full of dishes; Peridot pulled a face, not really feeling up to tackling _that_ just yet. Her bed was a disheveled mess with half of it incorporated into Peridot’s nest; no, the bed was where Peridot had spent the whole night thinking endlessly of Lapis and… _stuff_ involving Lapis…

Laundry!

Though Amethyst had helped Peridot do all her laundry just a few days earlier, there was one thing that had missed the wash: her work uniform. Picking up her black dress shirt as though it might achieve sentience and attempt to throttle her, Peridot brought the shirt to her nose and took a reluctant sniff. Axe, stale beer, cigarette smoke, Axe, the faintest tinge of vomit beneath a layer of mind-tingling bleach, _more_ Axe…. Peridot gagged as she yanked the dress shirt back away from her face. On most occasions, upon needing her work shirt and finding its aroma to be vomit-inducing, Peridot would simply bathe it in a haze of Axe body spray and consider the problem fixed. But this… this was beyond what Axe could fix, considering the Axe smell was half the problem.

It would be quick, Peridot reasoned. Just a quick trip to the apartment’s basement were a few of old rickety washers and dryers sat clustered together. And late in the afternoon on a Thursday, the slightly-spooky room would surely be empty, with only a handful of residents in the building to begin with, and those who actually left their rooms busy at work or something equally as adult and important. Keeping all this logic in mind, Peridot made the mature decision not to put on any pants, wadding up the black dress shirt in her arms as she shuffled into a pair of beat-up flip-flops, held together in Frankenstein fashion by duct tape and safety pins, snagging her bottle of detergent from by the door as she left her apartment.

As the door clicked shut behind her, Peridot found herself immobile for just a moment, absorbed in the serenity of the building at such a strange hour of the day. A TV droned somewhere distant through drywall and paper-thin floors, the building creaked and groaned with every push of wind on its exterior, a fan shuttered somewhere half-heartedly, the heating hummed underfoot and overhead all at once. It was times like these that Peridot wished she never had to hear things with any more detail, wished that her daytime senses were her only senses, that all sounds were soft and pleasant, all smells weak and vague, all colors and lights not quite so blindly poignant, all touches ghosting and gentle. Just once, Peridot wished she could step outside into the night and not feel so entirely overwhelmed by every sight and sound and scent and sensation, not have to taste the faintest trace of blood in the air from someone who scraped a knee three blocks away...

But it was pointless to be wishful of such things. Peridot shook the thoughts from her head and focused on her laundry.

The first dozen steps towards the stairwell went by without a hitch, but then Peridot had to pass by Lapis’ apartment. Unknowingly, she paused by the door, listening intently, mind wandering back to their nonexistent texts. Was she awake? Even at 4 PM, there was a possibility Lapis could still be out cold. Peridot had, admittedly, slept even later on more than one occasion. Then Peridot caught it: the softest hint of sound from within the room.

“You hungry..?” That was Jasper, though with uncharacteristical calmness.

“No.” It was far softer, far fainter, but Peridot recognized Lapis’ lilted voice anywhere.

All of a sudden, Peridot was blinking back a flood of tears, startled so much by her own emotional outburst that she hurried down the hallway and flew down the stairs, feet hardly making contact with the steps as her throat tightened up and her chest felt like it had been filled with lead. It was stupid. Peridot _knew_ it was stupid, but she was falling apart anyways. So she buried it, buried the hurt and the anxiety and self-doubt under a single mindset: laundry, laundry, laundry, laundry…

She hit the basement with a quiet _smack_ of her flip-flops on the stained concrete, and upon confirming her suspicions that the room would be empty, Peridot found herself crying. Sobs bubbled up from her throat, tears spilled down her cheeks, her chest tightened and her breath came in all shallow and hiccupped and left in the same frantic fashion. And before she knew what was happening, Peridot found herself in the far corner of the room, fingers digging painfully into her knees as she tugged them to her chest, whole body shaking as she found her phone and dialed Amethyst.

“Hey Pe— _shit_ _what’s wrong_..???” Hearing Amethyst so utterly concerned made Peridot feel ever worse.

“I-I-I’m o-ov-v-verreact-t-ting….!” Peridot sobbed helplessly, her hand jumping up to pull madly at her hair.

“Okay okay!” Amethyst’s voice lowered noticeably. “Peri, _breathe_. Okay? Breathe. Come on: in…”

Peridot tried to take a deep breath, but her lungs were fluttering like butterfly wings, taking in something more akin to hiccups of air.

“It’s okay! Just try your best!” Amethyst's voice was nothing if not reassuring, reaching Peridot through everything. “Just keep going. Breathe in… breathe out… five counts in, seven counts out…”

It took what felt like an eternity, but Peridot managed to calm down with Amethyst’s help, her breathing evening out and her eyes running out of tears to spill. The two of them shared a long moment of silence over the phone, Peridot continuing to breathe in for five counts and out for seven.

“You doing alright…?” Amethyst asked softly.

“Yeah…” Peridot answered through a dejected sniffle. “Yeah, I’m alright…”

“You want to talk about it…?”

Peridot hesitated. “No… no, not yet at least…”

“Alright…” She was silent a moment more. “Want me to come over..?”

Peridot was silent. “You’re at work…”

“Doesn’t matter. I can be over in five if you need me.”

“No, no, I’m fine…” Peridot sighed heavily. “I’m about to head out for work anyway…”

“Okay…” Peridot could almost hear the smile come to Amethyst’s face. “Maybe I’ll pop into The Ruby and The Sapphire tonight, schmooze a drink out of a buddy of mine…”

Peridot laughed a bit despite herself, sniffling again. “Yeah, or maybe you’ll get thrown out for harassing the staff…”

“Harass? Me?” Amethyst sounded totally innocent. “The thought that you’d even _suggest_ such a notion..!”

Peridot snorted. “See you later then..?”

“Yeah P, for sure!”

“Hey… thanks…”

“Don’t mention it, P. Try not to get yourself killed before you can give me that free drink, alright?”

“I’ll try.” Peridot rolled her eyes. “Bye Amethyst.”

“Later nerd!”

Peridot heard the click, but she kept listening a long while to the disconnected tone before letting the phone drop from her hands and clatter harmlessly to the floor, head falling to her hands, letting out a defeated sigh before everything became angry, nails digging into face, teeth gritting so hard she was sure they would chip, eyes pressed shut so tight it hurt. Peridot growled in utter frustration, staring up at the ceiling as if to burn holes with her eyes. Why, _why_ did she always get this way? She _knew_ better than to expect that anything would ever come from a first date. How many “first dates” had she had compared to “second dates”? Peridot had to actually think about that for a minute.

There was a guy when she was thirteen, another vampire, that _only_ other vampire… it was more of a forced thing than a genuine connection, more an awkward friendship than a relationship. They had kissed once. Peridot snorted as she thought back to it: their fangs had gotten all tangled up with one another's; she had yelled at him, called him a big old clod and “dumped” him on the spot. Then there was the girl when she was seventeen. Peridot grew small at the thought of her; it wasn’t anything healthy. And when push came to shove, when she stopped taking “no” and “not yet” for an answer, when she started threatening to expose Peridot’s supernatural identity unless she got consent, Peridot ran from that relationship like a bat out of hell. Quite literally _ran_. It was a few months before she dared go back home, or even back to the same state, a few months of hitchhiking and youth hostels and the ever-plaguing thoughts of the woman who still held sway over Peridot’s heart. Then she moved to the city, met Amethyst, had their banter turn into flirting and their flirting into benefits and their benefits into arguments and their arguments into fights… needless to say, the two of them were much better off where they were now. And then there was Timothy Connors, who never actually took Peridot on any dates whatsoever. The whole affair was one big desperate pile of regret.

And those were just the _second dates_. The number of first dates that never went any further could’ve rivaled the stars in their number. Sometimes, it was the other person, but mostly, they were nice, and they were funny, and they never wanted to see Peridot again. The short girl was quick to learn that “let’s just be friends” never really meant an actual friendship, aside from Amethyst’s exceptional case. “Let’s just be friends” meant “let’s never see each other again. You’re just another mistake in my book.” Peridot stared at her hands, feeling a numbness where her anger was burning out. Always the mistake, never the keeper. And now she was, specifically, Lapis’ newest mistake…

Peridot got stiffly to her feet, wiping her arms across her eyes one last time, being thorough to erase any signs that she was the total emotional mess that she was. She found her dress shirt and her detergent bottle abandoned in the middle of the basement laundry room, not quite recalling how she had gone from the stairs to the back corner in the first place. She picked them up, tugging open the door on one of the least demented machines and tossing the shirt inside. Turning to grab her detergent, Peridot caught something out of the corner of her eyes, shifting her eyes to focus on it and nearly having a heart attack.

“ _F—_..!!” The slew of profanities was just barely kept back as Peridot stared in horror at none other than Jasper, toting a garbage bag full of—what? Dead bodies?! The dismembered parts of Lapis’ past dates?!?

“Hey,” Jasper spoke, eyes narrowing a bit as she walked over to the machine next to Peridot’s. “You’re the runt from down the hall, yeah?”

Peridot nodded in silence.

“Weren’t you just lugging a fuck-ton of laundry down here two days ago…?”

“I-I just have to wash my shirt… for work… I have work tonight… a-and my work shirt needs to be washed…”

“Uh huh…” Jasper nodded, the slightest twinge of mockery in her tone.

Peridot sensed it, prickling in indignation. “Well what are _you_ doing down here??”

Jasper flashed a languid, patronizing pair of eyes, considered hazel in color but eerily yellow for hazel. “Doing laundry.” She nodded at the trash bag as she yanked it open and began tossing its contents into the machine. “Gotta wash these so I have something to wear when I go work out.”

Peridot wrinkled her nose, still paused halfway in reaching for her detergent. “Why would you wash them if you’re about to go and get them all sweaty anyways?”

Jasper rolled her eyes quietly behind a pair of unkempt bleached bangs. “Why are you washing your work uniform if you’re just going to go and dirty it up at work later?”

Peridot opened her mouth defiantly, then snapped it shut, finally stretching and grabbing a hold of her detergent. “Touché…”

There was a drawn out silence filled only by the dull _whump_ of Jasper’s clothes hitting the back of the washing machine as she tossed each garment inside with overzealous strength, and in which Peridot measured out her detergent with scientific accuracy, tongue peeking out in utter concentration.

“So,” Jasper sneered, though somehow still managed to sound conversational. “Are all your pants MIA or…?”

Peridot frowned in bafflement, then looked at herself and quickly recalled her lack anything below the waist other than her girly polka-dot underwear, feeling utterly exposed despite the fact that her vintage batman shirt was plenty large enough to serve as a nightgown, if not a bit of a skimpy nightgown…

“I-I-I didn’t think anyone would be down here at this time a day…” Peridot grumbled, avoiding eye contact as her face turned beet red.

To Peridot’s surprise, Jasper laughed, and it didn’t sound condescending.

“I can respect that,” Jasper smiled, though a bit wolfishly.

Peridot smiled a bit despite herself, adding the detergent to the little pull out tray on the machine in the silence that followed, Jasper filling her machine with the last of her gym clothes and producing a bottle of detergent from the bottom of her trash bag. Peridot couldn’t help but stare a little, the first time they were together when she was completely awake and Jasper was completely non-threatening. Tattoos. Peridot had sort of noticed them before, but now, right beside the hulking woman, she _really_ noticed them. They sort of looked like flames, but in a geometric way that evoked the word “tribal” in Peridot’s mind. On her right arm, the tattoos spread from her elbow all the way up the arm, disappearing beneath her shirt. On the left arm, they began at the elbow and continued all the way to her hand, and even that was gloved in ink. Peridot’s eyes trailed upwards to the woman’s hair, which—from what _may_ or  _may not_ have been Lapis' fault—had been bleached totally white, and had been cropped considerably from what Peridot recalled her having the day she moved in. It was wild, more like an animal’s mane than hair, but it was hardly longer than chin-length, hugging to her face and redefining the word “volume” all at once, sitting at fun bedhead angles atop her head and over her eyes. Peridot also noted in detail for the first time a scar running across the woman’s face, beginning by her right cheekbone and running up across both her eyes. It was faded, but the pinkish color was in stark contrast to her gorgeously tan skin, which suggested a Latino heritage. A similar but much smaller scar curved up from her left cheek and ended in a point at the cheekbone.

But for all the studying Peridot was doing to her down-the-hall neighbor, she failed to notice when the beefy woman halted what she was doing to pull a face.

“Dude, what’s that smell…?” Jasper’s lip curled up in a snarl, the expression chilling Peridot’s blood.

“Oh!” Peridot laughed breathily. “That’s probably my shirt…” She pulled it from the wash, which she had yet to start.

Jasper looked at the garment, sniffing slightly. “Is that… Axe body spray..? Like the shit middle school twerps use..?”

“Yeah…” Peridot rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. “Guess I never grew out of that middle school twerp stage… or at least the smell of it…”

The silence that followed was electric, Jasper’s eyes staring without blinking at Peridot and her shirt, the wheels turning visibly in her head. Peridot was about to break the silence with something she hoped would be witty, but instead jumped out her skin as Jasper’s fist came crashing down angrily onto the washing machine, leaving a dent.

 “It was _you!!_ ” She snarled, eyes blazing.

Peridot shrunk into herself, tossing her shirt back in the wash quickly. “Wh-What was me, exactly…?”

“You’re who Lapis was out with last night!!”

 _Fuck_. Peridot’s feet were instantly backing her away, tripping over one another just as bad as her tongue tripped over itself in her mouth. “N-N-No…! No way, I-I—… th-that wasn’t m-m-me..!”

Jasper bit out every last word. “Then why was the stench of _your_ Axe all over her clothes!?”

Peridot hit the wall, hands coming up in a defensive posture as she shrunk, a nervous laugh and sheepish smile slipping out. “Heh…”

Jasper loomed over Peridot, trapping her easily with a hand on the wall just above the vampire’s head, pointing a finger in her face, voice dangerously low. “Listen here, _runt_ : you don’t want to date Lapis. She might seem like some sort of catch, but she’s _not_. She’s not like she seems. She can’t stand girly drinks. She hates the movies. She hates roses—”

“She likes daisies…”

Jasper stopped short, eyes turning intense. “What did you just say…!?”

Peridot gulped, but something, _something_ inside her pushed herself from the wall, lifting her chin to look Jasper in the face, voice getting gradually louder. “She likes daisies. And daffodils, when they’re in bloom. She’d rather sit on the beach than walk along it. She drinks liquor because she doesn’t want the calories but she loves to drink regular beer. _Turtles depress her because she had one when she was little it got run over by her dad’s lawnmower_. _AND SHE REALLY REALLY_ REALLY _LIKES TO READ!!_ ”

Jasper was perfectly silent, with Peridot right up in her face in a full on rage. It lasted but a moment before Peridot dropped from her tip-toes and slinked a few steps back, rubbing her arm awkwardly, eyes on the floor.

“Look…” Peridot finally spoke again with a shaky sigh. “You’re concerned about her. I get it. I _really_ do. But… I don’t intend to hurt Lapis… I-I-I _really_ like her…” Peridot’s hand shot to her mouth as a sob escaped her, blinking quickly as tears came threateningly to her eyes.

Peridot shut her eyes tight, expecting some biting words from Jasper telling her how she was _wrong_ and that Lapis never wanted to see her again. Instead, a heavy hand fell onto her head, causing her to flinch something horrible, the hand mushing her hair into unnatural angles. Peridot looked up, eyes shimmering with tears and surprise.

“I know…” Jasper sighed, looking away.

“Huh…?” Peridot sniffled in a broken voice, still blinking away tears.

“You really like her; I know…” Jasper looked at her, a wry smile spreading onto a surprisingly sympathetic visage. “What, you think you were being subtle with your googly eyes and tortured stares?”

Peridot looked away, blushing furiously. _Gosh_ , was she really that lovesick..?

“But Lapis… she’s…” Jasper sighed, muttering to herself a moment. “How do I put this? She’s got baggage, kiddo. And a lot of it is pretty heavy stuff. A lot of people have promised the poor girl the world, and every last one of them took off at the sight of even _some_ of her baggage. She’s been hurt. She’s been wronged more than she’s ever been done right by.”

Peridot blinked, feeling even worse, but no longer for herself. “Really..?”

Jasper nodded. “It’s gotten to the point that she just doesn’t know what to do when she actually cares about someone. Because she doesn’t want to get hurt again. If it’s someone she doesn’t give two shits about, she’s perfectly fine with taking things slow and dragging some poor kid along until she gets bored of toying with them. But when it’s _actually_ someone she has genuine feeling for, she gets all hasty to jump three steps ahead or bail before things go wrong… and she blows it.” Jasper laughed a bit. “ _Man_ , does she blow it… Trust me, I’ve been with her through at least a hundred breakups, only a handful of which were with people who mattered to her. And those blew up like she lit a match under a gas tank.”

“Oh…” Peridot felt her hopes fall. “I-I’m not good with relationships to begin with… I don’t think I would be good for her…”

“Are you kidding?” Jasper laughed, grinding her hands into Peridot’s scalp in a noogie, more playful than hostile, thank goodness. “I’m pretty sure you know more personal details about Lapis than all her past partners combined. And you’ve—what?—had one date so far?”

“More or less…” Peridot took the roughhousing like a champ, mouth askew in an indignant frown. “But she hasn’t texted to me or spoke to me since…”

Jasper threw an arm around Peridot’s shoulders, walking the two of them back to their washing machines as she spoke. “Oh that? Try not to let it go to your head. She probably just needs a little time and space to figure out what she’s feeling. What can I say? The worst of her relationships were the ones that went fast. Not that she’s not all about making leaps and bounds. They just blew up and blew up _bad_. Had to crack a few skulls for her.” Jasper cracked her knuckles as she added a haphazardous amount of detergent to her washing machine.

“Huh…” Peridot shut the detergent tray on her machine and adjusted the settings. “So is skull-bashing sort of a required skill for dating Lapis…? I’m not going to have to fight seven evil exes, am I?”

Jasper snorted. “ _Dork_.” She glanced Peridot’s way. “Though I don’t think it would hurt if you built up a little muscle. Just in case.”

Peridot blew air through her lips in disdainful shock. “Whaaat? I’m really ripped!” She flexed her arm, displaying a single tiny bulge at her bicep.

Jasper flexed her own arm and bent to hold it beside Peridot’s for comparison. “Not bad, runt. But you still have room for improvement. If you want, I’d be happy to go to the gym with you and help you out. Anytime. Just knock; I’m sure I’ll be free to go.”

Peridot blushed, out of embarrassment or flattery, she wasn’t too sure. “Yeah, okay! But only if we go at night. Not as many people there to watch me outperform your scrawny ass!” She winked exaggeratedly.

Jasper laughed out loud, a real genuine laugh, as she fed quarters into the washer and turned it on. “Yeah, okay, whatever makes you happy, gremlin. Oh, and here…”

She took a hold of Peridot’s hand and placed in it four quarters. Peridot looked at her quizzically. “What’s this about..?”

Jasper took up her detergent bottle and empty trash bag, heading for the stairwell. “Oh nothing. Just didn’t think you had any spare change in those pant pockets of yours.”

Peridot flushed red again, somehow constantly forgetting she was in her underwear. “Thanks Jasper…”

“Don’t mention it, Scott Pilgrim!” She laughed as she waved with her back turned, disappearing into the stairwell with the door shutting behind her.

Peridot smiled despite herself, feeding her washing machine the quarters and mashing the _ON_ button, watching as the machine began to shake and shutter before stilling itself to fill with water. For once, everything seemed to be working itself out. Peridot had Jasper’s blessing to date Lapis, which made her feel luckier than winning the lottery. Not to mention that Jasper, despite what seemed to be a tendency towards vicious humor, seemed to be a pretty friendly woman who was just zealously devoted to her roommate. And she had paid for Peridot’s laundry. And to top it all off, Lapis could still very much be interested in this little thing she and Peridot were just beginning to have.

And then Peridot’s eyes got huge, her mind swarming with a sudden wave of thoughts not fit for the daytime, Lapis at the center of all of them. She groaned helplessly, realizing quite reluctantly that there could be no distraction powerful enough to keep her mind from a Lapis-infested gutter, at least not for long. _This is torture_ , Peridot thought pitifully. But if torture was what it took to be with Lapis, Peridot was more than happy to endure. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked the new chapter! Just a quick survey if you please: let me know in the comments what sort of stuff you'd consider would be reason for a fic to jump from "Mature" to "Explicit" (if you want, I can delete your comment after I take it into account. Just say in said comment that you'd like it deleted and I'll do that!). I just want to know in case some of that stuff comes up later, just to make sure the rating is accurate. 
> 
> Comments and theories are, as always, super welcome and encouraged and appreciated!! :D


	7. Nineteen and Counting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot has a rough night and work, then comes home to a rather persistent Lapis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took so long, ugh!!! School dropped 4 midterms on me over the span of 2 days and I have to buckle down to get all my studying done! But that also means I should be in the clear in the way of tests for a while, so I'll hopefully be posting more frequently I don't know I can't make promises but just know I WANT TO!! :D

“I’m here!”

“You’re late.”

Peridot rolled her eyes, shutting the back door to the bar behind her as she fought to get her sweatshirt over her head. “I’m not late!”

Pearl was taking stock of the backroom, pen darting over the clipboard in her hands as her eyes jumped around, hooded with a seriousness that suggested she wasn’t in the mood to banter.

“You were supposed to be here at 6:30 sharp.”

Peridot’s head finally popped free of the sweatshirt, her hair turned a static-ridden mess and her glasses askew. “Yeah, okay, but the sun didn’t even _set_ until 6:30…!”

“Not my problem,” Pearl replied with a sharpness.

Peridot pouted intensely, crossing her arms tight across her chest and yelling: “SHEEENNAAAA! PEARL’S BEING MEAN TO MEEE!!”

There was a moment of silence, then Sheena’s voice came all muffled from the dining room of the bar. “Please be nice to Peridot, Pearl…!”

Pearl called back, annoyance twinging in her tone. “I was _just_ telling her that’s she’s late! Which she _is_!”

Sheena pushed through the swivel door into the back room, tossing a towel back into the bucket of cleaning solution. “I’m sure she got here as fast as she could, babe. Besides, compared to Lars, P’s attendance is stellar!”

Peridot beamed, from both the praise and the smug satisfaction of winning her dispute with Pearl, but knew better than to keep herself at odds with the perfectionist bar owner. It was a Thursday night. And Thursday nights meant a huge crowd of college kids. Which meant both Sheena and Pearl were going to be running the place. Which _also_ meant Pearl would have a whole night to exact her revenge should she feel the necessity.

“So!” Peridot rocked up onto her tip-toes and back onto her heels, smiling sweetly as she continued the motion. “Who’s on the clock tonight..?”

Sheena responded as she hugged onto Pearl around the waist, pretended not to realize she was inconveniencing her partner who was still trying to take stock. “Sadie’s at the bar right now making things ship-shape, but she has to leave early; midterms. Lars will take over as bartender once Sadie leaves, and in the meantime I’m going to have him running the orders and bussing tables. You’ll be waiting tables, if that’s cool. Oh! And our super-secret special buddy is gonna be helping out with the dishes. He should be here any minute…”

As if on cue, the back door opened in its terribly squeaky fashion, and in entered the super-secret special buddy himself. Mop of dark curly hair, chubby baby cheeks he may never grow into, eyes shining as if he had just been told he was going to Disneyland, a smile spread from ear to ear and engulfing the whole room with its enthusiasm...

“Hey-yo!” He laughed, voice caught in that awkward stage of puberty where it kept breaking and squeaking with every other word. “Steven’s in the _houuuse_!”

“Steven!!” Peridot cheered excitedly.

“Peri!” Steven cheered back, crushing her in the best of hugs.

Peri struggled to breathe while in the embrace. “You’ve gotten…. taller…!”

Steven broke the hug, striking a Johnny Bravo type pose. “You bet! Connie predicts I’ll hit prime rock star height by summer break!”

There was a shimmer, utterly distracting, and suddenly Steven was a several inches taller, rocking a perfectly sculpted goatee and an utterly overgrown mound of hair atop his head, his clothes having gone from his regular star shirt and jeans to a ripped tank top beneath a jewel studded leather jacket and extremely flared bell-bottom jeans.

“Remember this face, Peridot! Or should I say… _these_ faces!” He clenched his fist and tucked his arm into his chest dramatically, tossing open the hand to release a flurry of magical glitter, which faded from view and revealed three more Stevens almost identical to the original. “Because these faces are gonna be on _albums_ before long!”

“You know it!” One of the Steven’s laughed.

“Alright!” Another Steven cheered.

“Rock and roll _forever_!”

“Steven!” Pearl scolded gently, arms crossed. “Magic is not for toying around with! Especially not at work.”

All the Stevens shimmered, leaving one Steven who retained his usual form. “Sorry Aunt Pearl, ma’am! I forgot..!”

“Do I hear Pearl being a stick in the mud?” Lars pushed through the door with his back, arms loaded up with textbooks and notebooks, chewing on a toothpick clamped in his teeth, fangs out unapologetically and whole aura giving Peridot the jitters. Pearl gave an exaggerative roll of her eyes and pushed through the doors to the dining room to keep up her work. 

“Lars!” Steven cheered, managing to refrain from hugging the guy while his arms were full.

“Sup Steven Loserverse!” Lars sniggered, walking over to Peridot. “Catch.”

He dropped all the books into her unassuming arms, and for a second, Peridot managed to wobble and keep it all balanced, but the next second found her on the ground, buried beneath the weighty textbooks and battered notebooks and all their loose pages. Everyone flinched collectively, aside from Lars, who instead threw his head back and laughed.

“What the hell Lars!?” Peridot snarled, managing to reign in the fangs and fight as she shoved free of all the books and began to gather them back up.

“I let you get behind the bar on Sunday under the condition that you’d do my homework for a week.” Lars gestured to the books and paper. “Here it is. I need it done by Sunday.”

Sheena crossed her arms, giving Lars a rather unforgiving look before disappearing into the dining room. “You shouldn’t go around burying your fellow employees under all your textbooks, fluffy.”

“Oh re- _lax_!” Lars snorted contemptuously, flicking his toothpick into the trash. “The girl’s a _vampire_ , if not a shitty one. She can handle a few books getting dropped on her.”

“Fuck you Lars!” Peridot called after him as he pushed through the doors leading behind the bar, glaring at the doors a minute longer before turning to gather up the last of the notebooks and paper.

“Here.” Steven—or more accurately Steven and his three clones—had gathered up the entirety of the mess, taking the last of it out of Peridot’s arms and stacking it up on the counter; with everything stacked up neatly, the Stevens become one. “You okay…?”

“He’s right you know,” Peridot flashed a sheepish smile. “We vampires are tough stuff..!”

“That still had to hurt…” Steven gave Peridot the most sincere of looks, enough to shake her false confidence to the core. “He means well, he really does. He just… gets carried away is all… my mom says when she sees him for therapy, he’s just another person with troubles, like all of us.”

Steven gave a smile. “And for the record, I think you’re probably the best vampire I’ve ever met!”

Peridot reached up and ruffled Steven’s messy curls, remembering how just earlier in the summer he had been even a few inches _shorter_ than her. “You haven’t met very many vampires, have you Steven..?”

He laughed a bit, ducking free of her hand and running from her persistent attempts muss up his hair, giggling. “I know you and Lars! And Lars is cool, but I think he sulks too much!”

Peridot held up a finger pointedly, shutting her eyes with smug satisfaction as she jumped in with a smart remark. “Proper sulking is the mark of a good vampire. That, and _just_ the right amount of an accent. Lay it on too thick and no one takes you seriously!”

“How’s that?” Steven asked, arms akimbo.

Peridot put on her very best deadpan expression. “I vant to suck your blood, _blaaahh_!”

Steven shook his head in mickdisappointment. “Demeaning, Peridot. Shame on you!”

Peridot chortled, giving Steven an incredulous look. “Don’t you have a dark lord to vanquish, oh great and powerful wizard?”

Steven shrugged noncommittally. “I heard someone already took care of him. Haven’t you read book seven?”

Peridot looked puzzled. “Book seven you say? Was it published in the past century? I am only well-read in literature published  _before_ the 1800s, you see…”

Pearl poked her head back through the doors. “Peridot! It’s time to get to work! Steven, do you remember how to fill the sinks…?”

Steven saluted, a big boyish grin on his face. “Yes ma’am Aunt Pearl ma’am!”

Peridot checked herself in some pans hanging from hooks by the door, adjusting her bowtie before joining Pearl in the dining room. “See you in a bit Steven!”

Pearl tsked pointedly as he caught a look of Peridot. “What happened to you!?”

Peridot blew a heavy sigh through her nose as Pearl’s hands made quick work of her tousled hair and ruffled shirt. “Why don’t you ask Lars?”

“No time!” Pearl chimed, her voice taking on a sing-song quality that she only got when she was either super excited or extraordinarily nervous. “The doors will open in a five, followed by our regulars, and after them the entirety of all college students in the area!”

Peridot would have taken great pleasure in correcting Pearl’s over assumptive statement, but she knew from experience the bar owner wasn’t far from wrong. Thursday night seemed to be the start of the weekend for all the kids at the local college, and The Ruby and The Sapphire seemed to be a favorite haunt of theirs.

“Don’t you worry Pearl,” Peridot boasted, chest puffed out and thumb jabbing at herself. “With me waiting tables, you _know_ everything is gonna go as smooth as butter!”

It was a team effort for sure—the sort that suffered when Sadie and Steven left around 11:30—but the night did, in fact, go by smoothly. All in all, Peridot was sure she served more than a hundred college kids throughout her shift, excluding the regular and other adults that were desperate enough to be at the bar on a Thursday night. Some of the kids were sober, making them irritable and impatient. But as the night wore on, every last customer came in on wobbly legs and made their requests with slurred words. There had been a total of five attempted bar fights—Sheena broke up three and Peridot nearly shoved a guy through a wall breaking up the other two—and a sixth successful bar fight that Pearl forced to be taken outside. All the puke made it into the bathrooms or the street, though only about half of the drinks made it into bellies with the other half ending up puddled on the floor. By the time the bar closed at 2:30 AM, Peridot’s clothes were practically dripping with a cocktail of beer and liquor and soapy mop water, hair frazzled from the sharp rise in temperature and humidity on account of all the bodies jam-packed into the place at the peak of the evening, her shoes having long since come untied and laces turned a disgusting grey from everything they had been dragged through.

With the last of the customers having been booted over an hour ago, the bar was a special kind of scene: beer cans and bottles decorated the floor like confetti as Lars walked up collecting them all into a trash bag; Pearl was out cold at the bar, having been dashing about nonstop since the doors opened at 7:00, Sheena’s jacket draped gently over her as a makeshift blanket. Sheena was in the back room, nearly done washing the dishes that had accumulated since Steven’s departure. And Peridot, of course, was stuck mopping sticky alcohol from the floor, having already had the horrendous job of mopping up the restrooms and making them spotless once again.

“So Peri,” Lars spoke conversationally as he and Peridot occupied the abandoned dining room together, each exhausted to the very core but focused doggedly on their tasks. “You’ll never guess what _I’ve_ been up to.”

Despite having been at work together for the past eight hours, Peridot and Lars hadn’t really chatted since Lar’s stunt with his textbooks; that was normal. “I’m sure I never will even if I tried.”

“I got accepted into a vampire gang,” Lars boasted, looking to catch Peridot’s reaction. “I’ve got initiation tomorrow.”

“Which gang?” Peridot shivered, knowing bitterly than Lars could _tell_ she shivered.

“Marty Manaegre’s, the Blood Brothers.”

“ _Fuck_ him!!” Peridot hissed under her breath, eyes flashing dangerously as she looked at Lars. “You know that worthless piece of shit goes around turning humans, right!? He’s the poster child for everything we’re hated for!”

“Yeah, and his gang is the most well-respected in all the city!” Lars’ eye shimmered with admiration. “Nobody messes with the Blood Brothers!”

“That’s messed up Lars. You _know_ that’s messed up!”

“You know what’s messed up, _runt_!? Vampire’s like _you_ , trying to pretend you’re just another lousy no-good human! It’s fakers like _you_ who give vampires a bad name!!”

The mop was long forgotten, fangs out and adrenaline swamping her mind. “You take that back this _instant_!!”

Lars snarled, pupils growing large as he stared her down. “Make me.”

Everything inside Peridot was screaming for her to go for it, to have at Lars without restraint, but that one shred of reason kept her planted, gave her the strength to drop her eyes. “You know what? Forget it…”

Peridot grabbed the mop from the floor and jammed it back into its cart of gross soapy water, wheeling the whole thing towards the back room.

Lars’ laughter rang tauntingly in her ears. “This is _just_ what I’m talking about! It’s weaklings like _you_ who the hunters are gonna get! Not me! I’ve got a gang! Nobody messes with the Blood Brothers! Nobody!”

Peridot pushed through the doors, rolling the cart to its spot by the sinks as Sheena looked on, noticing Peridot’s rigid posture and dark expression immediately. “Something wrong, hot shot..?”

“I need to go home now, i-if that’s alright…” Peridot didn’t make eye contact, already grabbing her sweatshirt from the coat rack and wrestling it over her head.

“Yeah, alright. Hey, be safe, okay? I want to see your face at work on Sunday, not in the papers.”

She scooped up the stack of Lars’ textbooks and notebooks, fingers digging into their bindings in frustration. “I’ll be fine Sheena. Thank you though…”

And with that, Peridot was out the back door and marching herself back home before her screaming instincts could turn her around and send her fists flying at Lars.

By the time she got back to her apartment, Peridot was cooled off for the most part, but she could feel the anger smoldering, waiting for a hairpin trigger to set it roaring into a full blown flame. Her arms felt like lead from carrying the textbooks across town, beginning to tremble as she had to hike up the stairs to the fourth floor. The moment Peridot reached her door, she dropped the books to the ground to fish out her keys, looking at them sleepily as she picked out the key to her apartment and stuck it into the lock, listening to the tumblers click into place as she turned it.

“Hey Peri.”

Peridot turned as she pocketed her keys again and pushed her door open a crack, somehow totally unsurprised to see Lapis there, standing calmly a mere foot away.

“Oh hey Lapis.”

Upon acknowledgment, her blue-haired neighbor took two fistfuls of Peridot’s sweatshirt and yanked her up into a kiss that left the former struggling to keep on her tip-toes. Instinctively, Peridot’s hands found her apartment door and pushed propped thing wide open, the two of them tripping over one another to get inside, hands working off pieces of clothing without seeming to disturb the progressively more passionate kiss. By the time they hit the bed at the back of Peridot’s apartment, all that was left on the two of them were their smallclothes, Peridot’s hands roaming for some sort of stability as Lapis worked her kiss onto her jaw, down her neck, across her collarbones, down her chest, navel…

Peridot started as there came a sudden series of heavy knocks on the door, the poor girl tumbling right out of bed onto the unforgiving floor in a pile of sheets and covers and comforter. Heart racing, her head swung around the room looking for the woman who had only been present in her dreams, hands finding her glasses and pushing them onto her face with sleepy incoordination.

“Just a sec..!” She called out hoarsely as she hurried for the door, ending up tripping to the floor once more as she ran into Lar’s books, no doubt dumped in the middle of the floor the moment before she had hit the bed that night.

Finding herself suddenly horizontal once more, Peridot felt a heavy wave of drowsiness come over her, and all at once the floor wasn’t so uncomfortable after all, eyes drooping shut.

The knocks came again, giving Peridot another heart attack from the shallow depths of her nap on the floor. “C-Coming…!”

Finding her feet, Peridot tripped towards the door, fumbling with the bolt lock before throwing it open, her terribly sleep-deprived expression turning immediately to a bright smile.

“Oh, hi Lapis!”

Lapis just stood there a moment, looking a little confused and a little lost before giving herself a shake. “Oh. Hey. Sorry, did I wake you up…? I just—… you weren’t answering your phone or—…”

“Oh man, sorry!” Peridot felt like she had just hit by a train hauling an industrial shipment of guilt full speed ahead, her free hand immediately tugging into her hair, head turning to scan her room for her phone. “I must have forgotten to plug it in before I hit the bed…”

“Must have forgotten to shower too,” Lapis remarked humorously, wrinkling her nose. “What, were you drinking yourself into an early grave or something..?”

“Working, actually,” Peridot smiled wryly, looking at herself to find that she managed to change out of her work clothes but had only put on another oversized shirt. No pants were starting to become a habit, it seemed. “I work at a bar most nights of the week. Thursday nights are always the worst; college kids hitting the town, getting trashed, all that jazz…”

“Those damn college kids, eh?” Lapis giggled, a little bit of a snort slipping out.

Peridot found herself blushing, eyes big and adoring underneath her crooked glasses, unable to help but revel in the absolute perfection that was her neighbor and all-star crush. “College kids are the worst…”

“Peridot.”

“Hmm…?” She gave herself a shake, wiping the soft sappy smile from her face.

The flash of a smile over Lapis’ expression told her that she had noticed the look. “ _You’re_ a college kid.”

“Excuse you!” Peridot cleared her throat indignantly, hands on her hips and lower lip poking out in a vicious pout. “I’m a college _adult_ , thank you very much!”

“Uh huh,” Lapis rolled her eyes before they stared heavily into Peridot’s. “How old are you again, dork?”

A wave of anxiety washed over Peridot and left her tense. “N-Nineteen…”

“Really..?” Lapis reached out a hand in as graceful a motion as there ever was, straightening the glasses on Peridot’s nose and brushing the stray hairs from her face, succeeding in turning the bespectacled girl’s cheeks bright red. “You honestly look like you could still be in high school…”

“Well I’m _not_ ,” Peridot tripped over her own tongue, still very groggy from just waking up.

Lapis’ hands moved to straighten Peridot’s shirt back to center, the collar having fallen halfway over one shoulder, hands smoothing the cotton material where it bunched by her collar bones, then trailing their way down to rest on either side of her waist, voice light as her eyes followed her hands. “Got the ID to prove it?”

Peridot would have normally snorted at the ridiculousness of the notion, but she was forgetting how to breathe beneath Lapis’ touch, let alone act normally. “O-Of course I do..!”

“Really?” There was something off in Lapis’ tone, but it was all brushed aside in Peridot’s mind, which focused instead on what Lapis’ hands might do next as they sat weighty on her hips. “Because you’re ID at the concert said you were twenty-two.”

“It’s my fake…” Peridot frowned just a touch.

“Oh, right…” Lapis’ arms tugged Peridot in effortlessly, the poor girl stumbling over her own feet as Lapis held the two of them mere inches apart, her voice quiet and breathy, sending shivers rushing up and down Peridot’s spine. “Your supernatural fake, yeah?”

Peridot gulped, eyes stuck on Lapis’ lips as they moved to make words, the words themselves rather neglected by Peridot’s attention. “Yeah…”

“Hey Peridot…” Lapis’ eyes were hooded as they noticed the muted bruises where her kisses had trailed before on their date. “Let’s go do something…”

“T-T-Tonight…?” Peridot hadn’t realized she was trembling, but sure enough…

“No,” Lapis corrected rather firmly. “Right now. Let’s go do something. Let’s go somewhere.”

“N-Now…?” Alarm bells began to jar inside Peridot’s foggy brain.

Lapis leaned in and kissed where Peridot’s jaw met her ear, sending Peridot nearly startling through the ceiling as her teeth toyed with the delicate skin, pulling away just enough to ghost her voice across the shell of her ear. “Now.”

Peridot’s eyes snapped shut, hands balling into anxious fists at her sides as Lapis pressed rough kisses along her neck. “A-And do w-w-what exactly..?”

Lapis’ words came out as little more than breath against Peridot’s skin, sending Peridot’s head spinning. “Go out… get lunch… go shopping… walk around…”

Her stomach twisting into the most complex of Boy Scout knots, Peridot managed to bite out the words between hitched breaths: “I—… can’t—…”

As easily as Lapis’ hands had drawn her in, they immediately pushed Peridot an arm’s length away, intensely dark eyes staring sharply. “Why not…?”

 Peridot’s lungs were having trouble fueling her words, the air might as well having turned to water. “I have _so_ much school work to do… I-I’ve got midterms in a few classes, a-and I have to do _all_ my friend’s homework because of a—… a bet I lost… a-and—”

Lapis laughed as if the notion was ridiculous. “Just do it later..! Come on!”

Peridot took a step back as Lapis moved to pull her close again, succeeding in leaving Lapis’ hands behind, if not a little too abruptly. “Why don’t we just go out later..? If I can just get some of this done—…”

“Can’t.” Lapis crossed her arms, expression turning a bit sour. “I have stuff I need to do tonight.”

“I’m sorry Lapis…” Peridot wrung her hands together, shrinking as her eyes hit the floor. “But I _really_ need to do schoolwork today…” She really didn't, but it wasn't like she could go out in the soft October sunshine either. And using  _that_ for an excuse was currently off the table. 

“Come _on_ , dork!” Lapis pleaded with thinning patience. “It’ll just be for a little bit. An hour! Two at the most! You can spare an hour, can’t you?”

“No, I-I-I really _can’t_ …” The knot in her stomach grew tighter with each word exchanged, and Peridot was certain she was going to throw up. “I’m so sorry Lapis, I’m so _so_ sorry…”

Lapis’ tone got short, her posture redefining defensive. “Hey, if you just didn’t want to hang out—”

“N-No!!” Peridot’s voice cracked something awful in its urgency. “No! No no! I _do_ , I would _love_ to hang out with you, I just—!”

“No, whatever, it’s fine.” Lapis turned away, feet already carrying her down the hall.

“No, come on—L-Lapis…! Lapis, _please_ ….!!” The urge to throw up shifted to the urge to cry, tears already blinking down her cheeks, voice breaking as Lapis rounded the corner without a second glance. “Lapis…”

Automatically, Peridot’s feet carried her back into her apartment and shut the door, carrying her further still to the bathroom, flipping the shower on with a whiny groan of pressure followed by the hiss of water, filling the bathroom with steam and white noise. Calmly, Peridot removed her glasses and stripped off her shirt, hands reaching to unclasp her bra. But before she could, she was on her hands and knees, dry heaving over the toilet as her crying escalated to hot angry tears and body-racking sobs. The water kept running and running and fogging up the bathroom until Peridot was not only soaked in tears, but also sweat from the sweltering humidity of her tiny bathroom.

Eventually, the water ran cold, the bathroom cooled off, and Peridot found herself resting her head on the edge of her toilet, halfway between being awake and fast asleep, both physically and mentally exhausted from her taxing morning. She felt sticky from the sweat and feverish from the heatwave, managing to muster up the energy to strip off the rest of her clothes and sit in the shower, knees drawn up to her chest as the freezing water drenched her, her wet hair drooping to blanket her eyes and giving her a bowl-cut look that even 2009’s Justin Bieber would have been envious of. And there she remained until her skin turned from prickling and chilled to totally numb, her body racked with shivers and her joints frozen in position. With a heap of effort, Peridot managed to reach up and turn the water off, but she remained curled up in the shower for quite a while longer.

It was a rough day. By the time Peridot hauled herself out of the shower, dried off what was still wet on herself, dressed into some oversized sweats, and read her journal front to cover, it was already 4:30. She was pretty sure Lapis had dropped by close to noon-thirty. It might have been earlier. It might have been later. Peridot didn’t want to think about it all too much.

She tried to be productive, she really did. But the reading for Lars’ mythology paper was dryer than a box of saltine crackers, and her brain just wasn’t up for debugging through her 500-lined program, and she was feeling far too bitter about her limitations as a vampire to review for her test in Vampire Biology on Monday. Two hours of trying and trying to get the words in Lars’ mythology textbook to stick in her memory, and Peridot was back to reading her journal through a haze of tears. She flipped over to the next page, coming to where she had written Lapis Ann Lazuli, promptly snapping the journal shut.

There came a knock at the door. Peridot ignored it.

“Yo, pip-squeak..! I know you’re holed up in there; open up!”

Peridot stomped to the door and threw it open.

Jasper shouldered her way inside easily, pushing Peridot to the side and catching her by the shirt as she nearly fell over. “Come on loser. We’re going to work out.”

“What the hell are you—!?” Peridot began angrily.

Jasper waved her hand dismissively, gesturing to Peridot’s outfit. “No, that’s not going to work. Got anything more athletic? You know, shorts, t-shirt…?”

“I mean, yeah, of c—”

“Cool. Put those on. It’s already getting dark.” Jasper looked at Peridot as the latter didn’t budge. “Hop to it! We haven’t got all night!”

Peridot heaved a sigh, begrudgingly digging out some more exercise-friendly clothes and toting them to the bathroom to change, shutting the door behind her.

“Why are you doing this?” She asked genuinely as she wrestled out of her sweatpants and into the athletic shorts. “You said I could come over whenever and tell _you_ when I wanted to work out, not that you’d pop by whenever to tell _me_ we’re working out…”

“Lapis just left for the night; she was in a tizzy ever since she popped by your room. I figured the two of you got a little heated, perhaps. And that perhaps you could use a little help in getting it off your mind.”

There was a pause, then Jasper added with a sigh: “I know how she gets. She gets frustrated, and then she gets angry, and then she gets plain _mean_. You… you alright..?”

“Yeah,” Peridot replied automatically, not about to dive into her riptide of emotions with Jasper of all people. “I’ll be alright.”

Peridot emerged from the bathroom dressed in a pair of obnoxious green athletic shorts and a plain loose-fitting black tank top, hair kept in place by a backward snapback patterned by a collage of alien memorabilia, crossing the room to her closet and fetching a pair of beat-up sneakers that used to serve as her gym shoes in high school.

“So,” She was quick to keep the topic of Lapis from coming back up. “What are gonna go do? Cardio? Weights?”

“How does the heavy bag sound?” Jasper grinned excitedly.

“I don’t know how to box…” Peridot admitted as she tugged on her shoes.

Jasper couldn’t help but snort. “No kidding.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t kick your ass!” Peridot countered with a challenging grin.

“Woah! Easy there, Scott Pilgrim! No one’s doubting you.” Jasper gave a wink. “Ready to roll?”

“You know what? Yeah!!” Peridot puffed out her chest, feeling more excited all of a sudden than she had all day. “Yeah, let’s do this thing!”

“That’s the spirit, runt!” Jasper clapped her on the back, nearly sending her to the ground. “We’ll have you rivaling Roman statues in no time!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! :D
> 
> Not sure who's interested, but I sort of have a mini playlist of songs that I listen to when I think about the dorito and the water witch. These are the songs (in no particular order or anything):
> 
> Vampire - Nitemayor (sorry I had to I love this song and well... it's clearly relevant)  
> Lose It (Jerry Folk Remix) - Oh Wonder (Date Night™ song)  
> Never Be Like You - Flume (leik if u cry evrytim)  
> It Hurts - Bad Bad Hats (aww (: )  
> All Time Low - Jon Bellion (aw ): )  
> It's Strange - Louis The Child (LAAAPPPPIIISSS SSSOOOONNGGG)  
> First Day of My Life - Bright Eyes (I honestly can't stop listening to this one its perfect omg?)  
> I'm Not Calling You A Liar - Florence + The Machine (LAPIS, MY ANGEL, MY DARLING ;-; )  
> Cigarette Daydreams - Cage the Elephant (my CHILDREN ;-; )  
> Everybody But Me - Lykke Li (another sad for my darling Peri *blows a kiss to the wind*)  
> Brighton - Swelo (I get feels)  
> Broken - Lund (an extra sad Peri song that I never hope becomes relevant but you never know with me ;-; )
> 
> And if y'all have any song suggestions OMG LET ME KNOW I'm always thirsty for good sad songs that have me thinking of my all time fav fic! :) :) :)


	8. To Throw A Punch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jasper takes Peridot to the gym for some boxing. Peridot takes along her burdened mind.

Peridot had been to the gym before with Amethyst, sitting off to the side on her phone while Amethyst practice for her special wrestling get-togethers. The gym she found herself at with Jasper was similar in smell and atmosphere, if not a little less shady and smelly than Amethyst’s favorite haunt. Stale sweat permeated the air from the moment they passed through the doors, Peridot’s heightened senses able to detect the subtle variance in intensities based on the different areas of the establishment. She followed in Jasper’s footsteps automatically, her nose wrinkling as they walked further and further into the strongest of all the sweat-stench.

“Smell that?” Jasper laughed throatily. “That’s that smell of _hard work_!”

“Hard work could use a shower…” Peridot muttered.

Jasper turned, a hand resting heavy on the top of Peridot’s hat. “Okay kiddo. Hop on one of those treadmills. Get yourself good and warmed up while I go rent some shit for us.”

“Right…” Peridot replied absently, though Jasper was already walking off with or without a response.

With Jasper gone, Peridot found herself alone in an essentially empty gym. It _wasn’t_ empty, naturally; Peridot could detect at least a dozen other pulses scattered through the building. With the moon high in the sky, she could detect every beat of every heart through every carotid artery in every neck, for at least a mile. And the more she focused on the sound, the more overwhelming all the information became. It didn’t help that she had been neglecting her blood intake for days. Weeks, even. Not that she meant to, obviously. It was just becoming increasingly harder to find the time to hike across town to a grocery store selling blood, knowing she’d need to then sneak the pint back to her apartment unnoticed. Peridot had never really been self-conscious about bringing blood home before; not until she had neighbors who she _actually_ cared might despise her for it.

It was too much to process. She needed to drown it out.

Peridot stepped up onto a treadmill and hiked the settings up maddeningly high, sprinting until the air tore in and out of her lungs painfully, until her legs ached as her muscles seared with lactic acid, until her brain turned to blood-deprived mush. Her legs balked beneath her after several minutes of pushing to keep up the pace, light-headed as her arms just barely caught hold of the side bars in time to keep her on her feet, which she moved to the immobile plastic flanking the zipping belt of the running area. With a ridiculous amount of conscious effort, Peridot managed to push the off button on the treadmill, panting raggedly as she waited for the belt to come to a complete stop; as it did, she gingerly came to stand on the belt once more, hands still gripping to the supports as her legs decided to be as much use holding her up as if they were made of jelly.

When Peridot’s mind began to think once more, regrettably it turned to the topic of Lapis. Lapis’ stormy blue-grey eyes. Lapis’ tantalizing lips. Lapis’ blood-chilling smirk. Lapis’ dusting of freckles. Lapis’ stray wisps of bluer than blue hair. Lapis’ perfectly powerful arms. Lapis’ deft fingers. Lapis’ tease of a voice. Yelling. In anger. At Peridot. Peridot, the stupidest person on the entire face of the earth. She groaned painfully at the thought of their quick-to-escalate—… was “fight” the right word? Peridot didn’t care. In retrospect, she beat herself up over turning Lapis down. What was the worst that could’ve happened should they spend an afternoon outside in the sun together? Sure, Peridot would die a quick but agonizing death. But even _that_ was preferable than finding herself in the cold and unforgiving shadow outside of Lapis’ good graces.

Maybe she wasn’t at fault, Peridot thought timidly, her lungs continuing to gasp for oxygen and her heart pounding in her ears. Maybe she had done nothing wrong, and Lapis had just… been ridiculous. Peridot scoffed. And maybe the sky was chartreuse and “vampires” were just some extreme type of vegans. Who was she kidding? If Lapis had told Peridot she wasn’t a huge fan of breathing, Peridot would have held her breath until Lapis changed her mind.

That was Peridot’s problem in relationships, wasn’t it? She would bend over backwards for the people she loved, even if it meant hurting herself in the process.

“Hey, woah, why the long face, bite-size?” Jasper had come back without Peridot noticing. “Don’t tell me you’re thinking about she-who-must-not-be-named-at-the-moment..?”

“I should apologize.” The words came tumbling out of Peridot without a second thought.

Jasper sat on the floor beside Peridot, who hadn’t come to realize she was sitting on the treadmill just yet. “What for..?”

Peridot shook her head, eyes caught in a daze, staring at nothing with her focus turned entirely inward. “For everything.”

“Okay,” Jasper huffed, folding her hands in her lap patiently as she sat crisscross applesauce. “Let’s back up. Start from the beginning. What happened between you two? If you don’t mind me asking…”

Peridot sighed, voice absolutely desolate. “She wanted to hang out. I couldn’t. I’m swamped with school work right now, okay? But Lapis, she—… she wouldn’t take no for an answer. And when I kept giving it to her, she got all upset and thought I didn’t want to hang out with her. I tried to explain that she had it all wrong, that I _did_ want to hang out with her more than anything in the world, but she just turned on her heel and stomped back to your guys’ apartment.” Peridot’s head slumped forward into her hands, a sob breaking her voice. “And I didn’t even get any work done after because I was too caught up in the argument!”

“Oh jeez, that’s not even that bad!” Jasper laughed in relief, the sound of which drug Peridot indignantly out of her wallowing.

“What?” Her voice was as bitter as poison while her eyes cut like knives into Jasper’s softly amused expression.

“Look kid,” Jasper smiled as if she was trying impossibly hard to be serious instead of bust a gut, giving Peridot an easy jostle that ended up far more powerful than anticipated. “I’ve dealt with Lapis for _years_ , so believe me when I tell you this: tomorrow morning, she’s gonna text you. And she’s gonna apologize. And she’s going to try and make it up to you, hopefully through something simple and not with her trademark level of overcompensation.”

Peridot took a moment to let Jasper’s words sink in, eyes shining with naïve optimism. “Really…?”

“Really.” Jasper nodded, grinning just a touch. “Just do me a favor: when she does make it up to you, try and shut the door first, alright?”

Peridot stared blankly for a moment before flushing red from the tips of her toes to the root of her hair, the suggestion behind the comment flashing on like a lightbulb in her head. With Jasper’s uproarious laughter ringing in her ears, Peridot snapped back to her feet and stalked to the other side of the expansive room, unable to force the redness from her face.

“I’m _kidding_ , runt!” Jasper was gasping for air after laughing so hard for so long. “What? You think—” Another biting comment was about to slip out, but after a moment of reading Peridot’s posture, even from across the room Jasper could tell another comment was the _last_ thing that needed to be said. “Look… kid…”

Peridot stiffened as that all-too-familiar sound of sympathy began to edge into Jasper’s voice, and immediately she was quick to kill it with fire, whirling around. “Just shut up and let’s do whatever the hell we’re here to do…!”

Jasper hesitated a moment. “Okay, but—”

“Oh we’re here to talk, is that it!?” Peridot knew the absolute meanness in her voice was uncalled for, and she already regretted speaking up at all, but she’d rather Jasper be _anything_ other than sympathetic, even if it meant making her angry. “So you just _drug_ me across town this this sad excuse of a gym to talk _feelings_ with me?” She snorted contemptuously, her eyes darting to the floor as her expression crumpled, unable to keep up the biting attitude in anything more than her voice.

“Alright, alright, sheesh!!” Jasper huffed, though sounding more tired than angry, muttering to herself as she picked up their rented equipment from where she had set it down. “And here I thought _Lapis_ was the bitchy one…”

Peridot prickled as her heightened hearing picked up the comment loud and clear, putting in a heap of effort to bring her tone back to something more friendly. “So uh… you said something about the heavy bag, or..?”

“Yeah,” Jasper nodded, tossing something into Peridot’s arms. “Boxing: you ever done it before?”

Peridot shook her head as she examined the round roll of fabric in her hands quizzically. “Can’t say I have… but I’m guessing this in an integral part of it..?”

Jasper snorted, amused. “Yeah, you could say that, short-stack. It’s for your hands. You wrap them so everything’s a bit more supported when you start smashing your fists into things.”

“Oh.”

“Here, c’mere.”

Jasper walked to the nearest bench with Peridot in tow, sitting down and holding out her own hand wraps as Peridot sat beside her and looked on.

“Okay, so you want to start by hooking this little loop over your thumb…”

Peridot looked to the hand wraps rolled up in her lap, finding the fabric loop sewed onto one end and mimicking Jasper in slipping it over her thumb.

“You wrap your wrist three times around… then your knuckles three times around…”

Peridot did as she was told, all the while with her eyes darting to Jasper’s hand for the assurance that everything was turning out okay on herself.

“This next part’s where it gets tricky. You want to wrap through each finger, come back around between your thumb and first finger, and form an X as you go back around and end up on the far side of your thumb. Do that for each finger…”

Peridot felt a marginal amount of anxiety as Jasper completed the wrapping motion far too quick for Peridot to notice all the little nuances involved. Luckily, Jasper gave her a quick glance and found her holding the wrap mid-rotation with trembling hands.

“May I…?”

Peridot looked up, finding Jasper offering out her hands. Sheepishly, Peridot gave her roll and her half-wrapped hand over to Jasper, who, despite having hands that swallowed Peridot’s whole, was surprisingly deft with her fingers. Peridot felt a blush color her cheeks while she watched in awe as Jasper looped the hand wrap through all the spaces between her fingers and around to the heel of her thumb; the motion happened with a practiced ease that was practically elegant.

“Once you’re around through the fingers,” Jasper continued a bit absently as she finished wrapping up Peridot’s hand, all the while explaining the steps she went through. “You want to go back around the thumb for support. Then if you’ve got any wraps left over—I never do, but you’ve got plenty here—you want to go back around the knuckles three times and then back around the wrist until you reach the Velcro at the end, and…”

She twirled the fabric of the wrap around Peridot’s wrist one final time before the fabric ended in a sewed on Velcro strap, the complimentary strip of Velcro sewed into the last few inches of the hand wrap itself. The Velcro came together on the final rotation around the wrist, securing everything in place, and Jasper’s hands fell away.

“Ta-da!” She snickered to herself as she finished up her own hand speedily. “One hand’s ready to go. See if you can’t get the other one on your own, runt.”

“I-I think I’m gonna still need some help…” Peridot’s voice was timidly quiet.

Jasper looked at her, a bit baffled. “Yeah?” There was a pause. “No, it’s fine. It took me far longer than I’d admit to get the hang of this part. Believe it or not, I’m better at the punching bit than all the important safety nuances…”

Peridot snorted a little despite herself. “No kidding…”

She was lost in thought again before long, hardly noticing as Jasper took to finishing wrapping her second hand for her. It wasn’t that Peridot _didn’t_ want to work out with Jasper. She did. She was excited, even. It was simply that her excitement was too easily drowned beneath much heavier thoughts. Lapis, for one, sat like a tangled mess of brambles on her mind, too complicated to work out but too painful to ignore. The night was growing later, too, which meant the steady incline of Peridot’s senses. Not a single one of them was singularly bothersome, but it was instead the overall symphony of sensation that made it hard to think. The smell of sweat began to dissociate into the scents of the individuals who had produced the sweat, each one keying into Peridot’s more primal instincts. The ashy scent of vampires had her mind buzzing like a dog’s subconscious growl; the earthy hint of wizardry had her skin pickled with goosebumps; the overly pungent musk of werecreatures set her on a hairsbreadth of an edge…

“Earth to Scott Pilgrim. Come in Scott Pilgrim!” Jasper waved a wrapped hand in front of Peridot’s face, sending her into a fit of baffled blinking before she looked up into her hulking neighbor’s face.

“Hey, you sure you’re up for this?” Jasper sounded concerned. _Concerned_ : it was only a baby step away from sympathy.

“Yeah,” Peridot frowned as she came back to herself from the buzzing world around her, voice growing defensive as she went back over Jasper’s words. “Yeah, I’m fine! I just need to hit something. You told me we would be _hitting_ things..!”

“Alight, alright!” Jasper gave a little breathy laugh, though Peridot was hardly convinced that her concern had dissipated so easily. “Right this way, all-star.”

The heavy bag sat off to one side of the gym among a variety of equipment which seemed to Peridot more like extreme versions a school’s playground equipment than actual workout equipment. Jasper took point in positioning herself in front of the heavy bag. She rolled her shoulders a few times, anticipation gleaming in her eyes and wolfish grin spreading onto her face as she squared up with the hulking sand-filled cylinder.

“Watch and learn, runt.”

“Sure you don’t want to start with something easier?” Peridot remarked dryly as she crossed her arms. “Don’t want you straining yourself.”

Jasper bit out a short laugh as she brought her hands up in fists, her right brushing her cheek and left just out beyond her jaw, chin tucked and posture surprisingly loose. And then, like a viper, she struck out at the bag, the contact of her wrapped knuckled on the leather resulting in a deafening _snap_ that had Peridot nearly jumping out of her skin she was so startled. The bag shook violently, its chain supports rattling like the chatter of fearful teeth. It took a moment, but Peridot realized that Jasper was watching her, a smug grin on her face as her hands found her hips in the most self-absorbed of poses.

“Look at you: one punch in and already geeking out.”

“Oh please!” Peridot rolled her eyes, looking away as she reigned in her expression of slack-jawed astonishment. “That hardly looked difficult. I’m sure anyone with an arm and a fist could do that.”

“Oh yeah?” Jasper’s eyebrows shot up but her eyes narrowed with a dangerous daring. “Be my guest. Shake the bag with a single punch.”

Maybe it was the fact that the moon was only a day away from being full, or maybe it was the lingering adrenaline left hazing up the air from the earlier regulars, but Jaspers’ taunting struck a harmonious chord in Peridot’s chest that drowned out any logical argument her brain could concoct. Before she could have a second thought on the matter, Peridot was squaring up with the heavy bag, mimicking Jasper’s fighting stance to the best of her memory.

“Keep your wrist straight,” Jasper coached from where she watched in amused anticipation. “Make contact with your first two knuckles. Be sure you don’t hyperextend.”

Peridot first went through the motions at a fraction of the speed, making sure everything was set to line up right. Mentally, she made sure to keep her vampire strength reigned in, certainly not wanting to punch the bag right off its chains and give away her identity loud and clear. Satisfied that her punch was straight and wouldn’t be _too_ powerful, Peridot stuck out her tongue a bit as she concentrated immensely, working up the courage—or the stupidity—to throw the punch she was sure would shake the punching bag.

Her hand made contact with a _thunk_ , the heavy bag remaining quite still as a wave of shock jarred up Peridot’s arm.

“Ow.”

As if the first wasn’t painful enough, Peridot threw a second fist with her right, a more powerful punch but still not enough to do more than budge the bag and numb her arm.

“How’s that working out for you?” Jasper chuckled to herself.

“Seems I could stand to hit the gym more often…” Peridot winced as she gave her shoulders a roll and shook out her wrists.

“Never fear. You and me? If we hit the gym say… twice a week… maybe three times when you can spare an evening…” Jasper scrunched up her face as if actually preforming some mental calculation. “Yep. That should be _just_ enough to get you in proper girlfriend-protecting shape.”

Peridot eyed the huge woman incredulously. “Is _this_ what you call girlfriend-protecting shape..?”

Jasper flexed shamelessly. “This right here is enough to protect _five_ girlfriends, baby!”

Peridot raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. “Do you _have_ five girlfriends..?”

“Maybe I do,” Jasper winked. “Hey, I’m going to go grab a drink before we start on the weights. Wanna come?”

Peridot opened her mouth to respond when she phone started to buzz in her pocket.

“You go on ahead…” She replied as she checked her screen, a call coming in from Amethyst. “I’ve got to take this…”

“No problem!” Jasper nodded, walking away with easy strides that had her out of earshot in seconds.

Peridot swiped to answer. “Hey Amethyst…”

“ _Fuck_!!” Amethyst sighed in relief, sounding completely out of breath. “You’re okay…”

Peridot felt a chill come over her, tensing up. “Why wouldn’t I be..?”

Amethyst panted for a minute before she had the breath to reply. “The pack and I just got word… three vampires were found dead not too long ago… and two more _just_ got reported… the first three were gang members, I knew they weren’t you, but those last two—”

“I’m okay Amethyst. I’m okay…”

 “Where are you?”

“I’m at the gym.” Peridot added after a moment: “I-I’m with a friend. I’ll be fine, I promise…”

“I don’t want you to leave, alright? I want you to stay put until I call you, until the streets are safe again…”

“Amethyst,” Peridot snapped, more terrified than angry. “I know what you’re thinking. _Don’t_!!”

“There’s a _dozen_ of us in the pack, P! The hunters couldn’t take us all down!”

“But they could take _you_ down Amethyst!! _Please_!!!”

“You know me, I’ll be f—”

“It’s a full moon tomorrow!” Peridot blurted. “You _know_ you can’t trust yourself to be smart _this_ close to a full moon!!”

“ _What!?_ ” Amethyst snarled. “You think I can’t _handle_ myself because of some fucking _rock_ in the sky!?”

“Amethyst…!!”

“Look, I’m not some bitten half-breed, okay!? My _parents_ were werewolves. _Their_ parents were werewolves. And their parents, and _their_ parents, and—”

“Amethyst if something were to happen to you, what would I do!? _What would I do, Amethyst!?!_ ” Peridot did her very best to choke back the sob that escaped her regardless. “I don’t _have_ a gang, o-or a _pack_ , o-o-or even any other _real_ _friends_ , Amethyst…! You’re the only thing I have and if I lose you—”

“I don’t have time for this, P. The pack’s heading out.”

“You _never_ have time me!!” The words slipped out like a bad habit that refused to die.

“Yeah.” Amethyst bit out dryly. “I don’t. Why don’t you ask your new _girlfriend_ for more attention? Or does she just not even come close to comp—?”

Peridot mashed the hang-up button as if the remark had been a wasp in her ear, startled that such poisonous words had even found their way into their conversation. A hand snapped over her mouth as another sob bubbled up, tears blinking into her eyes.

“You… okay..?” Jasper’s voice came all quiet and hesitant from somewhere behind Peridot.

Peridot did reply, too afraid that an attempt to talk would launch her into a blubbering mess of tears.

“How about we just go home? That sound okay..?”

Peridot gave a small nod, not daring to face Jasper as the tears spilled down her cheeks. A hand came to rest on her shoulder, causing Peridot to tense.

“Come on,” Jasper murmured soothingly. “Let’s go.”

With the gentle tug of Jasper’s hand leading her along, Peridot found herself leaving the gym with Jasper at her side. The tears wouldn’t stop spilling. Her phone buzzed again, another call from Amethyst waiting to be answered. Peridot shut off the screen. The buzzing ceased, only to begin again a moment later.

Amethyst was still trying to call when Peridot shut herself in to her apartment and cried into her pillow, cried and cried until she cried herself to sleep. When she blinked awake into the morning, Peridot instinctually checked her phone that she still clutched in her hand. It was twenty-two missed calls from Amethyst, and—Peridot blinked, suddenly wide awake—a text from Lapis. She hurried to open the message and squint it into focus without her glasses.

_Hey_

Peridot checked the timestamp. It had been over an hour ago. Her fingers stumbled over the screen’s keyboard to reply.

_Hey! Sorry, I just woke up…_

A new text popped up within seconds:

_I’m really really sorry about yesterday_

Another one was short to follow:

_I know you probably still have a lot of work to do, but…_

Peridot held her breath; the next text rolled in.

_I’m not doing anything tonight if you want to do something_

Peridot hadn’t realized the weight in her chest until it was lifted free by the resolution, fingers tapping out a reply as she held her phone above her face in bed.

_Sure!! Have anything in mind..?_

The wait of twenty seconds was excruciatingly long.

_How does dinner sound?_

Peridot took a fraction of second to respond:

 _Sounds great!!_ _:)_

The next message rolled in.

_It’s a date then ;)_

The phone fell from Peridot’s hands in shock and hit her smack in the face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buckle up kiddos. This next one's gonna be a doozy.


	9. A Night To Remember

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot and Lapis go out on their second date.

The studio apartment might as well have been abandoned for as silent as it was. The TV wasn’t on and droning from whatever channel it was stuck on—the remote had gone missing months ago. The computer, which usually had a half dozen fans whirling in the tower beneath the desk, was noiseless with the whole unit shut down. Not even the hum of the heater was heard after the room had reached temperature. Peridot hardly noticed. Full moons always tended to be quieter than most other nights. This night was no exception.

To say Peridot was only stressed was akin to the sun was only mildly warm. No, what Peridot was feeling had transcended beyond the limits of stressfulness, elevating her mind body and soul to a whole different plane of the stress dimension. Hands, shaking as if her life depended on the tremor, did what they could to tame her wild hair, teased from the hours upon hours her hands found themselves tugging at it. She had been at it for hours, wondering quite clueless if she was even doing any good. A glance in the mirror said nothing on the matter; full moons rendered her reflection nonexistent, after all.

Mentally, Peridot went back over her checklist for the night as she scooped up her favorite stuffed alien plush and flopped onto her bed, curling in a ball with the alien hugged to her chest. At 6:30, the sun began its decent in the sky, and Peridot begun her stopwatch. Dinner with Lapis was at 8:30 PM, according to her blunt text messages, with their evening officially beginning at 8 PM sharp when Lapis would come knocking on Peridot’s door. It was just a little under an hour after the commencement of sundown that dusk officially settled in over the city, indicated the final minutes of twilight before the night begun. Wasting absolutely no time, Peridot went out into town and prepared for her and Lapis’ second date. When she returned to her apartment, the time on the clock read 7:50 PM. Stress compounded on top of stress as Peridot rushed to be ready in her remaining ten minutes. She checked her phone as she lay curled up on her bed: 7:59 PM. And then the phone began to buzz.

It was Amethyst.

It was close to the fiftieth time she had tried to call all day, with the latest twenty all occurring while Peridot was busy trying to beat the clock. Normally, the persistence wouldn’t have done much more than annoy Peridot. But tonight, with a full moon setting her on one hell of an edge, Peridot was ready to snap over the matter. Angrily, she answered the phone, sitting straight with her feet hanging down over the bed.

“What?”

Amethyst snorted on the other end. “Oh, _now_ you decide to pick up, huh P?”

“The fuck do you want, Amethyst?” Peridot was expecting an apology.

“Just wanted to rub it in your face that I went after the hunters and lived. Told you so!”

Peridot bristled, fangs snapping out as her blood boiled from the comment; her voice, however, betrayed nothing. “You’re drunk.”

“Fuck yeah I am! Hey, and _fuck_ you Peridot! You can be a real big jerk sometimes, y’know?”

“Yeah? And you’re a bitch just about one-hundred percent of the time.”

Amethyst’s voice came back angry instead of lackadaisically inebriated like before. “For fuck’s sake! I don’t even know why I hang out with you! _Why_ do I hang out with you, huh!?”

“Don’t worry about it. You don’t have to see me ever again.”

Peridot lowered the phone from her ear, staring at it in her hand as Amethyst’s voice droned muffled from the speaker.

“Oh yeah!? Well good riddance you bat-fucking snaggletooth lame excuse of a—!”

The phone shattered as Peridot clamped down on it without restraint, sending a million pieces of screen showering from her hand as the hardware jabbed deep cuts into her palm. Still coming back to herself from the anger that had taken hold, Peridot became aware of the smashed phone still held in a vice, gingerly forcing her hand open and drawing in a sharp breath as she accessed the damage. The pain had yet to set in; her vampire chemistry could suppress the pain signals for several hours during a full moon, and suppress them it did. Her uninjured hand, shaking worse now from stress _and_ shock, plucked the little shards of plastic and phone-innards from the flesh of her hand. Much like pulling a cork from a bottle, with each impaled piece of plastic removed blood began to spring up and bubble forth from the deep cuts. _Blood_. Peridot froze, practically mesmerized by the sight of the warm sticky crimson liquid, becoming hypnotized when the sickly sweet metallic scent reached her senses. A vampire’s own blood couldn’t substitute for the need of foreign blood, as a vampire’s blood couldn’t possibly serve to replenish deficient nutrients if it itself was deficient to begin with. That didn’t stop it from triggering her, however.

Hesitantly, Peridot licked the blood from her hand, reeling as the taste acted like jumper cables for the instinctual depths of her mind. It didn’t matter that the blood served no functional purpose seeing as it was her own. Peridot had been accidentally starving herself of blood, and her mind and body reacted accordingly. There was a stomach-churning pressure as her fangs pressed to her wrist and broke through the skin, puncturing into the veins and arteries housed there. But whatever displeasure the action might have caused her was drowned out beneath the completely primal high that came from having her fangs in something living and pulsing and bleeding. Peridot didn’t hold back—couldn’t, with her instincts having so much sway beneath a full moon—drinking until the weak-kneed threat of passing out forced her to the ground, head snapping away from her wrist as a wave of extraordinary dizziness washed over her like ice water. Everything was rocking and churning around her, vision fading to black in her peripheral, but through it all Peridot was acutely aware of the blood trickling from her hand and gurgling up from the two holes in her wrist.

Good thing Lapis was running behind.

Tugging the sheet from off the bed, Peridot wrapped up her wrist and hand tight, watching in a daze as red bloomed all bright and discolored on the green sheet, propping herself up against the bed from her spot on the floor while she did her very best to breathe evenly and relieve her dizziness. Keeping pressure around her wrist, she pulled the sheet along behind her as she stumbled to the bathroom, sitting on the floor as she dug gauge and bandages from the under-sink cabinet. As she pressed the gauze to each hole in her wrist and wrapped everything together with bandages, a knock came softly from the apartment door. Panicking, Peridot wrapped things faster.

“Coming!!”

Stumbling from the bathroom and tugging the sleeve of her silver dress shirt down to conceal the majority of the bandages, Peridot veered from her path towards the door to pull all the covers from off her bed and onto the floor where a bright red stain glared from the carpet.

There came another knock. “Peridot…?”

Peridot scrambled to the kitchen, prodding fingers checking herself for fangs and hands scrubbing a dish towel over her face to clean the blood from her mouth and cheeks, tossing the towel in the garbage in a panic. “It’s open..!”

Peridot found herself standing in the center of her room, mind racing with everything that could give her away as the door opened and Lapis stood in the doorway. The thoughts disappeared in an instant.

“Woah…”

She was stunning. She was _absolutely_ stunning! Lapis wore a black evening gown, long sleeved with exposed shoulders, the upper half of which was decorated with a dusting of sequence likes stars in the night sky; the fabric bunched to one side of the waist and hugged close to her hips and legs as it flowed down to her ankles, a slit running on one side about halfway up her thigh. Peridot hardly took note of her shoes other than the fact that they were flats—thank goodness!—far too caught up in… everything _else_.

A knowing smile flashed on Lapis’ features. “Might want to close your mouth before the flies wander in.”

Peridot’s jaw snapped shut, posture turning rigid, eyes suddenly looking to herself judgmentally. “I-I-I didn’t know how fancy to get, I-I—”

Lapis burst out laughing just a little bit. “Are you kidding..?? You look great!”

Peridot blushed bashfully. She was dressed in the clothes she had gone out to buy earlier in the night: a silver dress shirt, matte black suit vest, crisp black dress pants, and a neon green bowtie that had been an out-the-door last minute choice over the standard black bowtie.

Lapis moved from the doorway across the room to stand before Peridot, the movement graceful and effortless but the only thing in the whole wide world that Peridot could think about at the moment. Lapis’ eyes stared intently past the big round glasses on Peridot’s flushed face into her baby blue eyes before trailing her gaze to the bowtie, slender fingers giving the garment a playful tug.

“I like you in a bowtie.”

The unapologetic suggestion in her voice had Peridot reeling; or… maybe that was the blood loss? Suddenly, Peridot was acutely aware of the bandages that were wrapped around her palm and visible past the cuffs of her shirt, as well as the itch of the scratchy bandage material around her wrist and partially up her arm.

“So…” Lapis purred, hands moving on from their torment of the bowtie to smooth down over the suit vest, so light it was more a suggestion of touch than actual contact; the hands laced together behind the small of Peridot’s back, trapping her mere inches from Lapis. “What’d you do to your hand..?”

Peridot tensed something awful, realizing a little too late that Lapis could feel all that tension through their embrace. “I-I’m bad with knives…”

“Yeah?” Lapis’ expression darkened to a real disturbed sort of concern.

“Yeah…” The realization hit Peridot. “N-Not like that! No, I mean, _cooking_ knives. Chef’s knives? I mean, I know there’s a _specific_ knife called the Chef Knife, but is it okay to refer to _all_ cooking knives as Chef’s knives..? Or is that like… knife generalization..? Anyway—”

“I get where you’re going with this,” Lapis cut in, face soft once more. “You okay…?”

“Oh yeah! I’m perfectly fine!” Peridot puffed out her chest boastfully, then deflated rather quick when she realized the motion put her within a hairsbreadth of coming chest to chest with Lapis. “I’m pretty tough, you know…”

Lapis’ neutral expression suddenly curled into an endearing smile, her eyes bright and genuine. “God you’re cute…”

Peridot’s mouth overflowed. “And you’re—… just… _wow_! You’re so beautiful Lapis, you’re… _wow_ …”

Lapis made a soft stuttering sound, and for once it was _her_ whose face turned red. Her hands retreated to her sides, the first finger of her one hand fidgeting with the fabric of her dress.

“We ought to go if we want to make our reservation…”

Peridot nodded, feeling a brick of regret in her stomach over opening her mouth, though it wasn’t over telling Lapis she was beautiful. That was one thing Peridot was sure she’d never second guess herself on. “Let’s go then..!”

“Hey Peridot?” Lapis stifled a laugh.

Peridot looked to her with huge, innocent eyes.

A snort escaped Lapis despite her efforts. “You might want to put on some shoes first…”

Peridot looked down, noticing her feet peeking out from around the edge of her pant legs, clothed in bright green alien-patterned socks with darker solid green toes and heels. “Oh..! Right..! One sec..!”

She dashed to her closet which was tucked in the corner behind the door, plopping herself down on the ground to tug her black converse on. One foot popped in without an issue, but the other rammed into something rectangular inside the shoe, baffling Peridot until she remembered: she had shoved it in her shoe so she couldn’t forget it. Pulling the boxy thing free, Peridot slipped it into one of her pant pockets, finishing up with her shoes and popping back to her feet.

“Okay!” She chimed happily, flashing Lapis a big excitable grin, the sort that put an amused smile onto Lapis’ face. “Let’s roll out!”

The night was a chilly one, the air scented all crisp and sharp by the cold, a bitter gust picking up every now and again. It was the sort of weather that would have had Peridot shivering out of her own skin if it hadn’t been from the warmth glowing from the deepest seat of her chest. Lapis, too, didn’t seem the least bit bothered from the chill despite the exposure of her neck and shoulders, not to mention her left leg that kept swinging through the slit and free of her dress with each stride. But despite that comfortable glow inside her, Peridot was little more than a ball of nervousness. Her fingers on the hand nearest to Lapis’ twitched endlessly, desiring to intertwine themselves with her thin fingers. But Lapis didn’t seem at concerned with even considering the gesture, leaving Peridot second guessing herself the whole walk down several blocks.

When she had the sense of mind to think of anything other than Lapis’ hand, Peridot began to realize that they weren’t in the part of town she’d expected from Lapis’ dress-code. The upper-class chunk of the city was still several blocks away when Lapis swung open an establishment door, holding it open for a highly bemused Peridot. She had only to take a single step into the restaurant before Peridot easily pinpointed the aroma of the restaurant’s namesake on the air.

“Pizza..?” Peridot pondered quizzically to Lapis as she followed Peridot inside. Lapis ignored her in favor of speaking to the hostess behind the counter, a bored looking college kid with dark skin and darker hair, her whole image proclaiming ‘I’m edgy’.

“Yes, hi, we have a reservation?” Lapis spoke in the friendliest voice Peridot had ever heard her use.

Reservation. Peridot took a quick glance around the less-than-classy eatery and its essentially abandoned dining space.

“Oh, that’s you, huh?” The girl behind the counter said matter-of-factly—her nametag labeled her ‘Jenny’. “Right this way.”

Lapis glanced towards Peridot as she followed after Jenny, letting slip a shit-eating grin and giving her eyebrows a cheeky waggle. Peridot huffed in mild annoyance, making a show of being utterly baffled, though secretly quite happy she wasn’t about to spend the sort of money on a dinner date that could pay for a semester of college classes. They sat at a tiny booth for two, squished up against the back wall of the establishment and far out of the way of the handful of other customers having dinner. Jenny tossed them both menus and took their drink orders—two waters—before returning to her place at the front of the restaurant.

“So…” Lapis propped both her elbows on the table, fingers interlaced into a platform for supporting her rested chin, eyes sparkling with mischief. “Do you like the venue, Peri?”

“Honestly?” Peridot found herself laughing in disbelief and amusement all at once, sheepish grin sticking to her blushing features. “Yeah, I do… oh man, is that bad?”

Lapis caught the giggles from her date far too easily. “No, oh my gosh, not at all! I thought to myself… _What do I know about Peridot?_ And well, since you’re in college, I figured extravagant Italian food portioned for a leprechaun wouldn’t go over too well…”

“It would have been fine either way,” Peridot smiled, biting her tongue a moment before deciding shyly to say what was on her mind. “Honestly anywhere is fine so long as you’re there…”

“Dork,” Lapis snorted, though the blush that bloomed on her cheeks gave away her sincerity. “You’re just sweet talking me, aren’t you?”

“I can do you one better than sweet talk…” Peridot stammered nervously, digging into her pants pocket and producing a small box in her hands below the table, eyes staring at it uncertainly.

Lapis caught on quick, face getting redder as she spoke a mile a minute. “Oh, Peridot, no, it’s fine, please don’t—”

Peridot put the box on the table and slid it over to Lapis, eyes drawn to a perfectly set table far across the room as her face burned something awful. “I-It’s not what you think. I was in a kid’s craft store earlier when I was out doing some shopping… I-I-I saw it… it made me think of you so much, I-I couldn’t resist… it’s not like it cost me an arm or a leg or anything… so if you don’t want it, o-or hate it, or—”

“Peridot…” Lapis voice reached her ears so softly, so gently, so raw and honest; she sounded like someone entirely new.

Peridot didn’t have to look; she knew every last detail of her gift: it was a Lokai bracelet—or more likely a cheap knockoff of the sort—a bracelet with brilliant vibrant spherical beads on an elastic band. There had been dozens to choose from, but Peridot had been drawn to the bracelet with mostly beads of a stunning slightly-transparent aquamarine.

“Th-The little kiosk said something about how each bracelet contains water from Mount Everest and mud from the Dead Sea… not sure I believe that spiel, b-b-but the color… I thought of you the moment I saw it…”

There was a tense moment of silence in which Peridot didn’t dare look at Lapis for fear of the rejection she was certain would be painted on her face. But then a sudden and unexpected kiss graced her turned cheek and lit her face up like Christmas lights, bringing Peridot’s head back around to stare at Lapis as she fell back into her seat.

“I love it,” She beamed, the bracelet already adorning her slender wrist, a bit loose but not about to fall off over her hand. “I really do. Thank you. You’re a sweetheart…”

Peridot felt her heart struggle to beat in her chest. “I’m not a sweetheart. I’m an ass-kicking sort of chick…”

“Oh yeah?” Lapis smiled, all amusement.

“Yeah,” Peridot countered with a sour little pout knitting up her brow.

“Then why in the world were you in a _kid’s craft store_?”

Peridot hesitated, feeling her whole tough-guy persona falling apart around her, her voice little more than a mumble. “I needed more coloring books…”

“Excuse me?” Lapis hardly stifled her laugh. “Not sure I _quite_ caught that…”

“I—… I was buying coloring books, okay…!? Last time I checked all mine had been used up…” Peridot was sure her face was redder than a pepperoni, arms crossed viciously over her chest in the most defensive of postures. “It’s a perfectly acceptable _adult_ hobby…!”

“Oh?” Lapis purred, leaning in with a motion so smooth it was practically predatory; Peridot tensed accordingly. “Any more _adult hobbies_ I should know about, missy?”

Peridot was left speechless, mouth agape for the sarcastic reply that never made it to verbalization.

Dinner went by without a hitch. The pizza was really good for the moderate price, and despite Peridot’s initial apprehension of disturbing the other dinner-goers with overly loud conversation, the worry was quickly chased away by Lapis’ air of utter confidence on the matter. The two of them made jokes through mouthfuls of gooey cheese and aromatic tomato sauce and crackling crust, neither of them overly caught up in “table manners”. Peridot had never seen Lapis so honestly and completely at ease, all hints of fronts and false charm fading away for unchecked smiles and unabashed giggle-snorts. Peridot was sure she, too, would have felt just as at home around Lapis had it not been for the full moon putting her on a constant edge. In all honesty, her biggest fear was that someone in the restaurant would give themselves a paper cut and cause her fangs to come springing out mid-sentence.

“This was really _really_ fun…” Peridot smiled as the two of them paid for separate checks, Peridot rolling her sleeves back over her elbows and forearms, covering the bandaged wrist Lapis hadn’t bothered to ask anything more about.

“You’re not calling it quits are you?” Lapis’ voice was teasing, but it concealed an actual concern that there might be some truth to her accusation.

Peridot jabbed a thumb at herself with a self-indulgent smirk. “This is _your_ date, Lapis. I’m just along for the ride.”

“I was thinking drinks,” Lapis suggested excitedly as Jenny returned with their receipts and credit cards. “If that’s cool with you..? Do you drink..?”

“A-A little…” Peridot shrugged. “I could go for something weak, just for a buzz, you know?”

“Yeah!” Lapis grinned, glad to find Peridot was on the same page as her. “Around these parts there’re _tons_ of bars to choose from!”

“That may be true, but I know for a fact that there’s one place around here that’s head and shoulders above all other bars.” Peridot’s hands came to her hips in a smug little pose as the two of them headed for the door.

“Yeah?” Lapis smiled, prying one of Peridot’s hands from her hip to take hold of it in hers. “Lead the way, hot-shot!”

 _The Ruby and The Sapphire_ was just a hop skip and a jump down a few blocks from the pizza joint, though it took Peridot an embarrassing couple of minutes to get her bearings before she was sure of where exactly to hop skip and jump. They entered to find the place surprisingly empty for a Saturday night at nine-thirty, but then again, every place on this particular few blocks in town was particularly empty on account of the full moon. It was, after all, the borderline between the poorer and more supernatural-dense side of town and the richer and almost completely human-exclusive side of town. And while werewolf maulings were a much more rare occurrence nowadays than they had been the past few years, very few people were willing to take their chances for something as trivial as a drink at the bar.

Peridot held the door for Lapis, unable to help but stare as she passed on her way into the bar. Every last inch of her was just as stunning as the moment Peridot had set eyes on her earlier in the night. Butterflies swarmed in Peridot’s stomach as she shuffled inside behind her.

“You work here,” Lapis remarked offhandedly as she took in the atmosphere at a glance. “I asked you on our first date out back.”

Peridot flushed to think Lapis had _memories_ of her; it was stupid, of course she did, but still…

“If I recall, _I’m_ the one who set up that date.” Peridot corrected.

“If _I_ recall,” Lapis teased, voice low and just ever so husky; she turned, ghosting fingers finding the edge of Peridot’s jaw and gliding their way to her chin deliberately, dark eyes following their path. “ _I_ left you speechless…”

Peridot gulped, her insides aching, skin crawling in the best of ways from the suggestive contact. She never wanted the night to end. Or… did she want it to end right then and there in the alley behind the bar? Her face burned as the thought came to her mind. Lapis gave a knowing smile, trailing her thumb over Peridot’s lower lip.

“What’s on your mind, Dot…?” Her voice was nothing but a purr, somehow all teasing and all sensual all at once.

Peridot’s own voice came out thick and raspy, struggling to form words. “I think I could use a drink…”

There was something about Lapis’ posture, her poise, the part in her lips, the look in her eye... Peridot expected a kiss. She didn’t expect Lapis to withdraw and leave her all alone her in tortured longing, but withdraw she did.

“Drinks it is then.” Lapis smiled, and maybe it was just from the abrupt end of the moment, but something about the expression seemed forced.

“Drinks it is then…” Peridot murmured in reply, more to herself than anything, feet carrying her clumsily to follow Lapis to the bar.

It was strange to just sit and be a customer, Peridot’s eyes finding spots that could use polishing on the bar top and her hands twitching to keep from snagging the towel from the other side and going to work. The doors parted as Sheena walked from the back to behind the bar, cleaning a glass as she smiled.

“Well would you look who it is!” She grinned.

“Hey Sheena!” Peridot beamed. “This is Lapis.”

“I remember Lapis,” Sheena chuckled to herself. “You hardly did a lick of work while staring at her all night long.”

Peridot’s face burned like the embarrassing fires of hell while Lapis burst out laughing beside her. Sheena mouthed the word “Sorry” while smiling sweetly, setting the glass she was cleaning aside.

“So, don’t tell me you’re trying to buy drinks off me, huh fun-size?”

“Well sure!” Peridot snorted incredulously, pulling out her wallet and digging out one of her fake IDs, the one that labeled her a 22-year-old human.

“You’re kidding me.” Sheena held up the license and stared Peridot down disapprovingly.

Peridot shrunk a bit in her seat. “It says I’m twenty-two… the legal drinking age is twenty-one…”

“Peridot.”

“It’s not like you’re just _giving_ me alcohol, I _am_ paying…”

“You can’t expect me to overlook this, can you?”

“Well why not?” Peridot bristled a bit. “You give me and the other employees drinks every once and a while… how’s this any different?”

Sheena huffed a tired sigh, looking to Lapis. “And how old are you? For real?”

“Twenty-five,” Lapis shrugged. “And if it makes you feel better, _I’ll_ buy the drinks and if Peri ends up with a glass or three or four, that’s on me not you.”

Sheena shook her head, a smile slipping through as she found the bottle of bourbon beneath the bar. “Three or four is really pushing it for our P, blue. I'd cut her off at two just to be safe.”

Peridot wrinkled her nose. “I don’t like bourbon, Sheena…”

“Well too bad, picky-pants. Bourbon is what I’ve got on hand. I’m _not_ fixing some fancy fruity cocktail for the likes of you. Not with the bar _this_ dead.”

“Make it shots then,” Peridot grumbled, slumping her cheek into her hand, elbow on the bar top. “If you put it in a glass I’ll just stare it all night too anxious to go in for a sip…”

“I’m fine with mine in a glass, but…” Lapis gave Peridot a wink. “Shots sounds like fun!”

“Shots it is!” Sheena smiled, pulling out a line of the tiny glasses and topping them off with bourbon.

“Hey,” Lapis grinned, jabbing an elbow at a sulking Peridot. “I know a real fun drinking game if you want to give it a _shot_ …”

“Ha ha,” Peridot rolled her eyes, picking herself up off the bar to face Lapis, hands tucked between her knees as she balanced on the barstool. “What’s the rules..?”

Lapis gestured at the shots between the two of them as Sheena filled them up. “Okay, so we both do a shot. Then one of us tells the other a really bad joke, and the other tries not to laugh. Then we do another shot and switch roles. It’s easy at first, see, but the jokes get funnier the more alcohol we drink, which makes it harder and harder not to laugh…”

“And if you _do_ laugh?” Peridot already hated the sound of the game; it sounded like a _lot_ of shots…

“You have to finish off whatever shots are left. And the joke-teller gets to switch out the drink we’re doing shots of.” Lapis beamed like the sun. “You in…?”

Any other night, with any other person, Peridot’s answer would have been a firm no. She was no good at drinking, meaning it took next to nothing to have her three sheets to the wind. That is, if she could even muster the mental strength to drink in the first place. She should just say no. But for _Lapis_ …

“Alright,” Peridot heaved a sigh, face turning bright red as Lapis thanked her with a kiss on the lips, short and sweet and teasing.

“Fantastic!” She giggled, pulling a shot glass close and pushing another towards Peridot. “Bottoms up!”

Peridot’s eyes burned holes into the tiny drink of bourbon as her hand clutched to it shakily, anxiety crawling up her spine as she noticed Lapis down hers easily and turn her attention back to her.

“Hey, if you don’t want to… it’s cool…”

“No no…” Peridot snapped a bit, hand tightening on the shot glass and immediately letting up as the glass fractured; the shot was upturned into her mouth the next second for fear that the bourbon would spill and give her away.

Lapis was smiling all girlishly excited as Peridot looked at her, shuddering from the burn of alcohol and the way it sat all unhappily in the pit of her stomach.

“I’ll go first.” She leaned an elbow on the bar, chin resting on her hand and eyes hooded. “What do you call a fake noodle?”

“A fake noodle..?” Peridot pulled a face.

“An impasta.”

Shit. Peridot had to bite her lip to keep from giggling just a bit, realizing far too late that she was a sucker for bad jokes…

Time ceased to be an object of concern as the two girls worked themselves to a point of being too drunk to see straight, the competitive streak drummed up between the two of them something to go down in the books. Sheena had forced them to take a breather after shot number four went down without a hitch. The inebriation hit Peridot like a sudden wave, leaving her collected in one second and then giggling into the next. Lapis’ face flushed a rosy pink as her hands got a bit adventurous, resting on knees, thighs, hips, shoulders, arms, hands… anything within reach and social bounds. The drinking continued at a much more relaxed pace, and though the game had officially been called to an end, and the bad jokes kept coming.

“Okay okay!” Peridot slurred, gesturing unsteadily with one hand, nearly falling off her stool. “I’ve got one! I’ve got one!”

Lapis laugh permeated into her voice, eyes soaking up the sight of her date. “Hmm… ’kay…”

“What—” Peridot dissolved into a fit of giggles, covering her own mouth in embarrassment. “What did the ocean say to the… to… to the beach..?”

Lapis smiled knowing. “Nothing, it waved.”

“Nothing!! It wav—oh…” Peridot’s initial enthusiasm in delivering the punchline died on her breath as her brain caught up with Lapis’ words.

Lapis broke into a fit of giggles, falling forward in her seat until her head rested on Peridot’s shoulder, leaving the poor vampire frozen, a moment of clarity finding her within the drunken haze.

“Lapis..?”

Lapis sat up a bit, coming face to face with Peridot. “Yeah..?”

Peridot leaned forward and kissed her, far too unsure and timid but decisively longing. Lapis, though stunned for a few long second, shoved a hand into the back of Peridot’s hair and kissed her back, matching the same longing with far more fearless gusto. Eyebrows knitting together as her hands found hips, Peridot hardly stifled a moan as Lapis’ tongue prowled her mouth before her teeth clamped her lower lip, Lapis pulling away from the kiss slowly but still biting onto Peridot’s lip, eyes all shades of suggestive as she let go. And Peridot promptly fell back off her stool, kept from the floor only by the grace of Lapis’ surprisingly quick hands finding a fistful of dress shirt.

“Can we go home…?” Lapis’ voice alone sent shivers racing up Peridot’s spine.

Peridot felt a pit weighing in her stomach. “You… want to go home..?”

Lapis eyes twinkled with mischief. “You bet.”

Peridot’s eyebrows shot up, face blushing a deep red. “Oh..!!”

Lapis tugged Peridot back onto her stool, hand releasing the fabric to instead toy with the green bowtie, leaning in close to an ear. “You wanna…?”

Peridot’s shoulders hiked up at the tickling sensation of breath over the shell of her ear, gulping thickly as she did her very best to think clearly through the haze of alcohol, giving a single terse nod.

The walk back to the apartment was a blur, all hands and puffs of breath and giggles and a general lack of balance. A single thought stuck in Peridot’s mind: what was going on? She honestly had no clue. Vaguely, she recalled agreeing to something at the bar, but three blocks later the details were already lost to the haze. Lapis seemed to remember, all intense stares and big smiles and confidence; Peridot decided that was probably a good sign. Was Lapis drunk? Was _she_ drunk? If she could touch her nose… a finger wobbled in front of her as she attempted to pinpoint the nose on her face, her hand seeming impossibly distant as it moved with a clumsy life of its own. _So_ , Peridot thought sluggishly _. Did that mean she was drunk or… not drunk_? She couldn’t recall the rules.

They were climbing the apartment stairs when Peridot came back to herself again, sobered up minimally by the sheer cold of the nighttime walk. She was hugging onto one of Lapis’ arms, hardly on her own two feet, looking up to find Lapis sorting through her keys with her free hand, leaning heavily on the railing as she climbed each step with extreme concentration. Peridot made an effort to carry more of her own weight, nearly falling down the stairs as she did, Lapis quick to yank her back.

“Careful…!” She laughed hysterically, voice just a tiny bit slurred.

“Sorry…” Peridot was shocked as to how utterly slurred her own voice was, breaking into giggles as the whole situation suddenly seemed hilarious.

Somewhere deep in her own head, Peridot knew something was amiss, that she was moving too fast, that she really should take things slower. But drunken Peridot didn’t know the meaning of the word, perfectly content with stumble along with Lapis no matter the destination or the eventual activities that would ensue once there.

The two of them were leaning up against the wall while Lapis stared pointedly at her keys, tongue sticking out as she tried to find the key to her door. Peridot watched, head rolling off to one side to stare up at the ceiling, brow scrunching in a frown as a thought lazily occurred to her.

“Lapis..?” The ‘L’ stuck to her tongue and she really had to force it off to get the rest of the name to tumble out, then again getting stuck drawing out the ‘s’ at the end.

 Lapis hummed in acknowledgment, finally finding the right key, hands far more coordinated than Peridot’s as she got the key into the keyhole on the first try.

“What about…” Peridot frowned more, trying to remember what her concern was about.

“Jasper..?” Lapis offered.

“Jasper…!” Peridot repeated in excitement at finding the end to her question. “Yeah..!”

“She’s not home.” Lapis grinned, a look of complete and utter mischief as she walked backwards into the door to open it, leading Peridot along. “She’ll be away for a few days on a little family visit…”

“Oh.” Peridot flashed a goofy smile. “That’s good, right…?”

Lapis tugged her close, kicking the door shut behind her. “Fuck yeah it is.”

Peridot giggled again, the sound getting caught off in a muffled squeak as Lapis drew her in for a rather dirty kiss, fingers digging into her hips to hold her close. Peridot melted into the kiss, all breathy moans and weak knees as Lapis peddled backward towards her bedroom. Peridot stumbled along for the ride, heady from kisses and hands that had her whole body aching for more. Her heart nearly stopped beating as suddenly Lapis’ wanting hands turned to shove her away, Peridot landing onto a protesting mattress, springs groaning beneath her weight. It was a sobering moment, the Peridot who sat up on the bed much more aware than the one who had fallen onto it in the first place.

“L-Lapis…!”

“Peridot…” The words rolled off her tongue like the most addicting of drugs, nearly stealing the breath right out of Peridot’s lungs as she pushed the blonde back onto the bed and silenced her with another deeply wanting kiss.

Everything had Peridot’s head spinning something awful. The alcohol acting on her brain, the taste of Lapis in her mouth, the dips and curves of her body beneath her tentatively trailing hands, not to mention the smell. _The smell_. Lapis’ intoxicating scent was that of something deep and burning and a bit salty, like a cabinet of cooking spices burning in a house fire, all danger and depth all at once; it permeated everything in the room. Her skin, her sheets, her wardrobe, her carpet, the very air around them… but there was something else. Another scent that hit Peridot like a train and sent her into a panic. Blood!! She pulled away from the kiss immediately, clamping her mouth shut as her fangs slid out beyond her control.

Lapis withdrew one of her hands, putting a little distance between the two of them as she did. Peridot shut her eyes as panic and instinct had everything spinning as they clashed with one another in her mind. The scent grew stronger the more aware of it she became until it was literally the only thing on her mind, the only thing she could smell, the only thing she could think about…

“Peridot.” Lapis’ voice reached her, even and… cold?

Peridot’s eyes snapped open as the sound of a gun cocking reached her ears, her veins turning to ice as she was met with the sight of Lapis holding a gun in her face.

“Be a dear and open up for me,” Lapis instructed simply, not a hint of emotion in her voice though an eerie playfulness glinting in her eyes. She reached out with her free hand, cupping Peridot’s chin and raising her head up. “It’s either that or I shoot, so…”

Peridot gulped, reluctantly opening her mouth just a touch, though she was forced to open it further as the barrel of Lapis gun found its way inside, framing her fangs.

“Well what do you know,” Lapis smirked, looking into Peridot’s eyes with a satisfaction that had Peridot’s stomach ready to retch as it jerked into knots. “Busted.”

Peridot didn’t say a word with the barrel of the gun in her mouth, terrified into silence even as Lapis withdrew the firearm and held it steadily in Peridot’s face, finger on the trigger.

“Any last words, hon?” Lapis asked simply as if the two of them were just having tea.

Peridot’s voice was practically nonexistent. “Where did you even have that…?”

“What, the gun?” Lapis flashed a smile. “Strapped to my thigh beneath the dress, the inside, where I didn’t think you’d dare to feel up.”

“Ah.” Peridot’s face turned red in embarrassment despite the much more pressing situation at hand.

“Sorry it had to come to this,” Lapis shrugged, the gun leaving its sights on Peridot’s head; she still made no move, too terrified. “But business is business. You understand.”

“Completely,” Peridot replied around her fangs, voice trembling something awful, shaking as much as her whole person.

Lapis gave her an odd look, one that Peridot had a hard time placing, then trained the gun between her eyes once again wordlessly.

Peridot shut her eyes, not quite realizing she was crying until her voice came out a sob. “Just do it…”

She waited. Waited for the gunshot that she would be aware of for a split second before the bullet shredded her brain and snuffed out her conscious life. Then she would bleed, her heart fluttering in a panic as it pumped blood right out of the body. And then it would stop, the muscles cells dying as their efforts would succeed only in starving themselves of the life-giving crimson substance. The shot would stain the walls with what had once constituted her head, but Peridot was sure Lapis had industrial cleaner in the bathroom that would scrub all traces of her away. And then she would leave no traces of the rest of her either. Would she dump her in a river, or hack her body into pieces and burn them one by one? Or maybe just bury her somewhere deep in the middle of nowhere?

And then Peridot realized she still hadn’t heard a gunshot. She opened her eyes and found herself staring fearfully into the dark and unreadable eyes of Lapis Lazuli still poised behind the loaded gun. And then, without warning, the gun dropped.

“Get out.” Lapis snapped.

“L-L-Lapis…?” Peridot cowered further into the headboard.

Lapis’ eyes blazed with anger. “ _I SAID GET OUT DAMMIT!!!!_ ”

Peridot wasted no time, scrambling to her feet and practically sprinting out the door and down the hall to her own apartment, struggling to unlock the door and shove her way inside before slamming the door shut behind her, damaging the hinges as she did. For a long moment, there was nothing but stunned silence. And then Peridot sought her phone out in a panic, still-hazy mind rushing to form some sort of escape plan. Call Amethyst. Get out of town. Change her name. Go to a new school…

She found her phone in pieces hidden beneath the covers of the bed that she had pulled onto the floor. The panic was overwhelming, forcing her into hiding in the bathroom, shaking like a leaf as she hugged to her knees and sobbed in fear.

All in all, Peridot had a new winner on her list of horribly awful bad dates…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plot twist one: launched. How has it been received?


	10. The Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the morning after.

To say Peridot wasn’t horribly panicked would certainly be a lie, but it was near impossible to tell by the way she meticulously went about her day. Wrist wrapped in a new layer of pristine bandage, changed into a pair of green booty-shorts and a black tank top, sucking on a Capri Sun while her mouth was graced with a persistent pair of morning-fangs, Peridot was busy scrubbing lemon-scented cleaner into her blood-stained carpet while The Chainsmokers’ newest hit single blasted through her laptop speakers, drowned out only by the compressed-quality sound of her software professor’s infrequent comments that accompanied his online lecture. She was pushing herself to do everything and anything, but it still wasn't enough to keep the taste of gunmetal from materializing on her taste buds, to keep the click of the gun’s hammer from sounding falsely in her ears, to keep the sight of Lapis emotionless and poised with the gun from flashing behind closed eyelids with every blink. Scrubbing vigorously at the carpet, Peridot tried to pay attention to her lecture. Arrays, Queues, Sequences, Sets… it was all starting to blend together. The cleaning fumes were starting to worsen her pounding hangover headache. Her skin felt suddenly cold, and her stomach gave an unhappy sound.

The next second found her in the bathroom, retching into the toilet for the sixth time that morning. There was nothing left to come up but the puddle of her own blood that had been sitting unhappily in her stomach since drinking it all from her own wrist. She sat on her knees there for a long while, stomach paining and sending more blood back up in unpredictable intervals. When the goosebumps died down and her stomach found peace once more, Peridot spat before sending the crimson toilet water down the drain, shifting herself to the sink to brush overzealously at her teeth, toothbrush moving at a million miles a minute as the taste of her own insides clung to her pallet, muted only by the powerful mint toothpaste. Spitting out the minty foam and rinsing her mouth under the low-pressure sink, Peridot wiped her mouth on her arm and looked up, coming face to face with herself in the mirror. Bloodshot eyes, even darker circles, hollowed cheeks, tangled hair, and worst of all… faint trails of lipstick from Lapis’ kisses.

She smashed the mirror with her good hand.

The carpet stain was forgotten as her hand dripped blood from the cuts on her knuckles, forming new stains in the carpet as she paced. Instinctively, her hands found the journal on her desk, flipping it open to read snippets from the pages. _Dear Journal, I don’t know what to write_ … _Dear Journal, they put me in the hospital… Dear Journal, he won’t return my calls… Dear Journal, today was a good day… Dear Journal, I went to the graveyard for the first time to see them… Dear Journal, they found me; I’m in the hospital again…_ Dear Journal this, Dear Journal that…

The book went flying across the room as Peridot threw it at the wall.

Her eyes darted across the bare insides of the medicine cabinet, snatching the only bottle that sat inside. Advil. Peridot swallowed two of the red tablets, reading the label to figure out if a half a bottle was enough to snuff her out. She read the first line, then read it again, and again… Peridot couldn’t even focus enough to read. Growling in frustration over her temporary illiteracy, she pulled out a glass cup and poured the remainder of the Advil tablets into it, reasoning to herself that _this_ much Advil was sure to do _something_ as she ran the kitchen sink and topped the glass off with hot water.

A knock sounded at the door.

Abandoning the cocktail of dissolving Advil in the kitchen, Peridot shuffled cautiously to her door and lifted up on tip-toes to peer through the peephole. Lapis’, downcast puppy-dog-eyes and all, stood on the other side of the door. Peridot stood stock still, staring a while longer before Lapis felt the need to knock a few more times.

“Go away!!” Peridot snapped.

Lapis looked up, surprise written all over her face. “Peridot…? I-I-I just want to talk… please..?”

“No you don’t,” Peridot scoffed bitterly, dropping from her place at the peephole as her legs ached in protest. “You want a second chance at murdering me!”

“I do not!!” Lapis replied indignantly, though keeping her voice down, sending two nervous glances down either side of the hallway.

“Oh yeah? Then why’d you bring your gun, huh!?”

Lapis blinked. “How’d you kn—” She cringed, realizing too late that Peridot had called her bluff. “Peridot, _please_ …!! I feel really _really_ awful about last night, a-a-and I just want a chance to explain..!”

Peridot hesitated, knowing that she shouldn’t, that she needed to purge Lapis from her life. But… hadn’t she been wildly in love with her up until the gun showed up..? She thought Lapis had been in love with _her_ too…

“Peri…” Lapis sighed into the door, her voice catching Peridot’s attention as it always managed to do. “I understand if you—”

The door opened, and Peridot came face to face with her neighbor, the both of them looking the worse for wear. Lapis’ face flashed a look of a relief while Peridot’s remained stony expressionless.

“You can’t get away with killing me if I don’t do anything. I googled it.”

“No duh.” Lapis snorted a bit, though reeled herself back in when she realized the fear deep-set in Peridot’s eyes, her posture, the tremble of her hands… “Peridot…?”

Peridot’s eyes met Lapis’ for a brief moment before falling to stare pointedly out the doorway at nothing in particular.

Lapis’ voice was hardly audible. “You probably don’t believe me, but—… I-I-I’m not gonna hurt you…”

Peridot stepped aside without a word, letting Lapis pass by her into the apartment before shutting the door.

They stood in silence for quite a while, Lapis’ eyes roaming to take in the room, staring at the bloodstains and the fragments of smartphone as Peridot watched her every move. It was difficult not to get distracted by her and her everything.

“So… “Lapis looked back at Peridot, anxious reluctance thick in her tone. “I’m sure you have… questions…”

“You’re a hunter. You kill supernaturals.” Peridot swallowed hard around the words, feeling a chill run down her spine as spoke them.

“Is that a question..?” Lapis’ eyes turned cold.

“Call it an accusation,” Peridot replied all bitter and attitude, being sure to keep a hand on the door handle.

“Yes, I am.” Lapis replied matter-of-factly, eyes on her hands. “Vampires, more specifically…”

“You’re a murderer.”

“I’m a monster hunter.”

“You kill _people_ , Lapis…”

“I kill _vampires_.”

“Vampires _are_ people!!”

“No they’re not..!”

Peridot barred her fangs, eyes blazing angrily; her temper was only made worse as Lapis jumped at the sight of her.

“Is that what you think!?!” Peridot wasn’t sure when she started yelling, but she sure as hell was now, tears welling up in her eyes as she did. “That… that vampires are just some sort of _beast_ for you to slay!? Is that what you think of _me.._!?!”

The look on Lapis’ face… you’d have thought her world was crumbling to the ground around her feet. “Oh Peridot, no! No!! You’re _nothing_ like the rest of them…”

She tried coming to Peridot, tried to reach out and comfort her, but Peridot bristled, barring her fangs again and succeeding in stopping Lapis dead in her tracks.

“ _FUCK OFF LAPIS!!_ ” She snarled, hands pushing the tears from her cheeks roughly. “There is no _rest of them_ , don’t you get that!?! I’m just as much a vampire as all the vampires you’ve ever killed!! If you hate _them_ you hate _me_!!”

“I don’t hate you Peridot…” Lapis’ face had darkened, her voice trembling with the threat of tears. “You’re not like the others… not at all…”

Lapis reached out a hand to cup Peridot’s cheek. In the blink of an eye, Peridot snatched her arm right out of the air, mind clouded with anger, voice dropping dangerously low.

“I’m _exactly_ like them.” Peridot’s cold visage twitched as she felt the race of Lapis’ pulse beneath her grip, fangs aching, pupils dilating…

Lapis whipped out her gun in a heartbeat, pressing it to Peridot’s temple, face a mask of fear.

The two of them remained like that for a long minute, both of them tensed to the extreme.

“What…” Peridot broke the silence, voice soft and depressed. “What would you do if I did it, Lapis? I-If I—… if—”

“If you bit me?” Lapis’ voice was just as soft, extremely calm and collected. “I _would_ say I’d shoot you, but… I-I-I’m not too sure I would…”

Lapis’ wrist was so close to Peridot’s mouth that each puff of breath past her fangs ghosted on the delicate skin there. Peridot _knew_ that she should let go immediately, apologize profusely, beat herself up about it for weeks to come, but something held her there, a mere trigger away from drinking that wrist dry. But then again, something else entirely held her back even as her brain screamed in instinctual craving.

“Peridot…?”

With the cold of the gun’s barrel still pressing on her head, Peridot flashed her eyes to Lapis, finding herself totally off-guard at the softness she found in Lapis’ expression. And then Lapis leaned in, meeting Peridot in a gentle and rather hesitant kiss, sending sparks flying in Peridot’s head.

Peridot’s hands went soft and let Lapis’ arm go, hardly noticing when the gun dropped from her head. Trapped up against the door, Lapis pushed the kiss, stealing the breath out of Peridot’s lungs as her hands pinned Peridot’s above her head, swallowing the fearful squeaks and aroused whimpers alike as her uncanny strength kept the vampire from going anywhere. Peridot let out a gasp as Lapis pulled away, only to have her breath hitch as Lapis dove back into Peridot’s neck, teeth nipping mercilessly at skin and sending Peridot writhing beneath her firm hold.

“L-L-Lapis—!” Peridot stuttered, the _stop_ getting caught in her throat as Lapis balanced herself with a knee between Peridot’s legs.

Lapis’ voice tickled on Peridot’s neck as she kept trailing kisses, hard and verging on painful. “I should have done this last night… I shouldn’t have set you up… I don’t care what you are, Peridot. I _want_ you…”

“Lapis…!!” Peridot squeaked, voice beginning to convey her rising panic.

She pulled away from Peridot’s neck, instead coming face to face with her, dark eyes boring into Peridot’s eyes as big as saucers. She held the gaze, letting go of Peridot’s hands with a hurt look in her eyes, as if she expected Peridot to push her away. Instead, Peridot just stood there, back pressed to the door, chest heaving, the scent of Lapis sending her head spinning.

“I—” Peridot cleared her throat, body aching to let Lapis go as far as she wanted, but still level-headed enough to know she would regret everything if she just pretended like she wasn’t completely untrusting of her lover. “I think… it would be best… if we just… t-talk…”

Lapis’ brow knitted together as she took a moment to fully comprehend. “Y-Yeah… no yeah, of course..!”

She immediately put distance between herself and Peridot, face flushing as he both of them struggled to come back from the moment. Peridot dropped her eyes to her hands to find them shaking, a rush of guilt and anger and sadness filling her all at once. She started crying again.

“Please don’t cry…” Lapis begged with a strangled sob. “Please…”

“What are we doing!?” Peridot rubbed at her eyes beneath her glasses, looking at Lapis in absolute agony. “We can’t make this work, Lapis…! Why are we trying—… why are we—…?!”

“I _want_ to make this work, Peri…!” Lapis reassured vehemently, hands coming up instinctually to reach out and comfort Peridot, but she held herself back.

Peridot buried her face in her hands as the crying got worse. “Y-Y-You brought a _gun_ with you, you have so little faith in me—”

“No! No it’s not that at all!” Lapis pressed with a strangled laugh. “I bring my gun everywhere, i-i-it’s not _you…_ ”

Peridot’s voice was hardly audible. “What if I hurt you…!?” She pulled her hands away from her face to stare at them shaking. “What if—… I couldn’t live with myself if I—… if something were to happen—…”

She looked at Lapis, eyes burning with guilt. “Why couldn’t you have just shot me and been done with it…?”

“ _What_!?” Lapis’ eyebrows shot up, startled.

“ _Why do you have to keep toying with me!?!_ ” Peridot was beginning to yell again, tears spilling hot and angry down her cheeks.

“I’m not toying with you Peridot!!” Lapis’ raised her voice in frustration. “I thought you knew me better than that…!”

“ _I thought I did too!!!_ ” Peridot snapped, ending up bitterly laughing without end, gesturing wildly with her hands. “Turns out it was all a _fucking façade!!_ ”

“ _Well what about you huh!?!_ ” Lapis rebuked curtly. “You weren’t exactly being honest either!!”

“Wasn’t I!?!” Peridot’s eyes blazed as she pinned Lapis with a manic glare. “Because you had me figured out before I even knew the time of day!!”

Lapis folded her arms. “Yeah. That’s kind of what I do.”

Peridot snorted contemptuously, lapsing into an angry silence as she crossed her arms tight across her chest, shoulders hiked, skin bristling. Lapis regarded her silently, angry herself but more than anything desperate to get the two of them back to square one.

“Look…” Lapis sighed, fidgeting with her hands as she did. “I get it if you just want to break things off… i-if I was in your shoes, I’d probably want to too. But… I’m here, if you want to talk… I want to know your thoughts, your worries… I want to understand them… a-and I want you to understand mine…”

Peridot’s anger ebbed as her guilt festered, tying regretful knots in her stomach. The arms crossed over her chest turned instead to an insecure hug.

“How’d you know…?” Her voice came barely audible, full of loathing and fear.

Lapis hesitated for a moment that was both relieved and pained. “About… you being a vampire..?”

Peridot gave a slight nod, eyes shut tight, shoulders curled to her ears as she tried to simply disappear from the moment entirely.

“It’s really _that_ important to you, isn’t it? That it’s a secret…” Lapis tried to sound as if she understood, but in reality should couldn’t possibly begin to comprehend it.

Peridot nodded again, taking in a slow shaky breath before speaking up. “When people find out, when I tell them o-or they get a hold of my paperwork… they don’t treat me the same. They don’t even _try_ to treat me the same… it’s like I’m no longer even there, that I’m no longer Peridot to them I’m just… a stereotype. I’m a vampire, and somehow that… that _changes_ who I am, who I was to them before they knew..? They say stuff like _You only hang out with me because you want my blood_ , or _you wouldn’t understand. It’s a human thing_ , or _that’s such a vampire thing for you to say_ … No matter how hard I try to press on through the comments, to continue to be myself in hopes that they’ll come around, they never do… they never do… it doesn’t matter how—… how _kind_ of a person I am or how _polite_ I act or how _disarming_ I manage to be… once people realize I’m a vampire, that’s all I am to them. Some… malicious, bestial menace of the night who couldn’t _possibly_ be just some regular friendly gal, she _obviously_ has dark ulterior motives, best cut ourselves off from her and keep stakes under out pillows just in case she gets vengeful…”

“That’s—….” Lapis looked away. “I’m sorry…”

“You did it too, you know,” Peridot laughed sadly, voice still quiet. “ _Better be prepared in case she attacks me… after all, expose a vampire for what they are and they’re guaranteed to turn violent…_ ”

“I shouldn’t have subjected you to all that… I just—… I had to know for certain…”

“Right, because god forbid you go out with a _vampire_ … what would the parents think…?”

“ _STOP_.” Lapis snapped, correcting her tone immediately. “Just stop…”

“Sorry…” Peridot muttered bitterly.

They held a rather tense silence between the two of them for a long minute. It was Lapis who broke it, voice a little terse but otherwise friendly.

“Do you like tea? I can make us some tea…”

Peridot wrinkled her nose. “Sure…”

Lapis sighed heavily. “Hot chocolate it is then.” She muttered to herself: “I swear to god, if it turns out I’m dating a five year old…”

Peridot managed a ghost of a smile. “You’re the one who ate a whole can on frosting by yourself…”

Lapis pouted. “That's different… frosting’s grown-up food, I swear!”

Peridot moved aside from the door as Lapis opened it to fetch their hot chocolate from her apartment. Hesitating a long moment, Peridot sprinted into the hallway.

“Lapis...!?!”

Her head popped out from around the corner. “Yeah…?”

Peridot gulped, fidgeting with the hem of her shorts. “You don’t… by chance… have any of that uh… that… _blood_ …. leftover… from last night… do you..?”

Lapis stared, face unreadable, taking a minute to reply. “Yeah… just like half a can though, I didn’t want to pay—…”

“C-C-Can I have it…? P-P-Please…???” Peridot stuttered, hands tugging at one another as she squirmed uncomfortably where she stood.

“H-How often do you need that stuff…?”Lapis voice was quiet, but the unease was loud and clear.

“D-Daily, ideally…” Peridot replied, voice cracking, eyes glued to the ground.

“But… you haven’t had any in your fridge all week…”

“Y-Yeah,” Peridot replied difficultly, skin crawling. “I-I-I-I know….”

Lapis stared again. “Shit Peri… is that… _healthy_..? Are you going to be okay..? I mean—… _shit_ …”

“ _P-Please_ Lapis… can I j-just—”

“Of course..!! Of course, just give me a sec!!”

Lapis disappeared around the corner again, and Peridot retreated back into her own apartment, feeling dizzy. She blamed it on the fact that she hadn’t eaten yet, stubbornly refusing to connect the dots between her wooziness and her overly persistent fangs. She crossed the room in a half-dozen quick strides before the dizziness sent the room spinning and she wound up lying face-down in her bed, head pounding like the swings of a lumberjack meeting her skull. And just like that, she was out cold.

“Peri…? Peri….!”

“Mmm…”

Peridot blinked sleepily, finding half of her face slick with drool and hair glued to her cheek, rolling over to look up at the bleary form of Lapis’ face watching her closely.

“You alright…? I-I think you passed out…”

Peridot snorted, turning her face back into the mattress as she broke into an uncontrollable fit of giggles, the likes of which turned to sobs before long. Lapis watched unsurely from her perch at the foot of the bed, eyes drinking in the sight of the vampire in her booty shorts for an embarrassingly long moment.

“I brought you that can of…” She cleared her throat uncomfortably. “Of, uh, blood… it’s not my place to say, but I think you might need it if you’re passing out…”

“You’re right,” Peridot muttered darkly as she rolled back over to fix Lapis with a glare. “It’s _not_ your place.”

Lapis rolled her eyes and tsked in frustration, holding out a hand. “Sit up loser. You’re drinking this or I swear I’ll wipe all your video game progress from your computer memory.”

Peridot glared a minute longer before taking the offered hand, sitting up on the edge of the bed with Lapis’ help. Immediately her hands found her fangs, poking at them distastefully.

“Do they usually stick around this long…?” Lapis asked a little hesitantly.

Peridot turned, finding her staring with a rather unchecked look of fear plastered on her face. Sighing through her nose, Peridot pushed herself to calm down.

“Usually, no. This is a little abnormal…” She looked at Lapis, hands fidgeting. “You can touch them, if you want…they’re just teeth, for the most part…”

“I-I’m alright,” Lapis assured with two hands raised in a softly defensive position, a smile ghosting to her features. “Besides, I already got a good feel for them when you were putting your tongue down my throat.”

Peridot turned the color of a beet, stuttering in the most adorably flustered manner with her fangs lisping her words just ever so slightly. Lapis couldn’t help but giggle as a blush of adoration flushed onto her cheeks, rising from the bed to retrieve the can of blood from the kitchen counter a few steps away. Peridot watched, admittedly a bit apprehensive, eyes catching sight of two mugs also on the counter.

“Is that the hot chocolate..?” She asked with hardly restrained excitement.

“Yeah,” Lapis respond as she walked back over with the can in her hand, sitting back on the bed beside Peridot. “And you won’t be getting any if you don’t take care of yourself.”

Peridot’s eyes landed on the can of blood, half empty and turning stale from being open all night long, but still tantalizing with its sickly sweet aroma. Her hands trembled as they took the can reluctantly from Lapis, staring down at it as a struggle of conscious restraint and instinctual ferocity ranged in her head.

“You alright…?” Lapis voice came awfully soft, though from actual volume or Peridot’s inability to focus on the world around her, she wasn’t sure.

The vampire didn’t answer, the can rattling as it sat within the tense, shaky grip of her hand. Lapis watched, cautious and worried all at once. She placed her hand over Peridot’s hand that rested on the bed, feeling the tension the wound the small girl’s whole body like a spring.

“Talk me through what’s going on…?” Lapis’ eyes were big and blue and watery with concern.

Peridot swallowed thickly, using her explanation as an excuse to take her mind off the blood; that is, as much as was physically possible. “It’s been far too long since I last drank….”

“How long…?” Lapis asked softly, unconsciously stroking her thumb over the back of Peridot’s hand.

Peridot thought for a moment. “I had a bloody mary, one with blood, last Saturday. I-It wasn’t a lot, mind you, just really rich stuff…. a-and I hadn’t really been on much of a regular schedule since the autumn semester started… just a can here and there, maybe a drink when I went out… not nearly anything close to a healthy intake…”

“Okay,” Lapis sighed shakily, her own posture turning tense. “And what, exactly, does that mean for you..?”

Peridot shrugged weakly, trying to be totally matter-of-fact but the quiver in her voice betraying her deep-set fear. “High probability of developing an addiction while I work to recover from the shortage. _Also_ … a fairly high chance that consuming even a little blood at this point will drive me to… _ehm_ … seek more out in any means necessary…” Her throat tightened up, voice strangled. “As it were…”

A tense silence thrummed between the two of them, but Lapis’ hand didn’t retreat from where it rested on Peridot’s, and Peridot made no move to draw hers away.

“Peri…?”

Peridot shut her eyes. “Yeah…?”

“Can I tell you something…? I-It might upset you…”

Her heart wrenched in her chest, lungs tightening, stomach knotting. “Go ahead…”

“When I’ve… _tricked_ other vampires, the way I exposed you… they’ve _always_ attacked me, without fail, without a second thought. And—…. well once that happens, it’s assault, and it’s then excusable under the law for me to—…”

“To kill them.” The words tasted like ash in her mouth.

Lapis was silent for a minute. “Yes… _that_ … but you didn’t do that Peri. There I was, threatening your life, the smell of that retched blood so pungent even _I_ could smell it, it must have been driving you mad…”

“Sure, yeah…” Peridot tried to push the image from her mind. “Your point..?”

“My point is… even with _all that_ going on, you still didn’t even so much as _threaten_ me, let alone attack me…” Her hand cupped Peridot’s cheek, turning her face to look at her. “I believe in you… you can drink that blood, you can get healthy again, and you can do it all while maintaining your integrity. I _know_ you can.”

Peridot dropped her eyes even as Lapis still held her face, stomach clenching up in a series of knots and a chill running up her spine. “And if I can’t..?”

“Then… then I’ll keep you safe. Until you come back. Until you’re _you_ again.”

The sincerity in Lapis’ voice was almost startling, drawing Peridot’s eyes back to meet hers. “You mean… you’ll shoot me..?”

Lapis looked pained. “No. I won’t shoot you.”

“Well you should..!” Peridot protested vehemently, hand clenching down tight on the can of blood. “Promise me Lapis… if I’m going to hurt _anyone_ , just shoot me… I don’t want to have to live with myself if I do…”

“I—…” Her voice faltered, then with a sigh, regained its strength. “I promise…”

“Alright…” Peridot sighed, taking Lapis’ hand into hers, squeezing it for comfort. “Alright…”

Her eyes turned to stare at the can of blood again, heart racing as her mind honed in on the sticky liquid sloshing about inside. For just a brief second more, Peridot looked to Lapis, drank in the entirety of the moment, the way her hair looked, her eyes, her lips, her ever-fading freckles…

Peridot tipped the can and drank the blood down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And just fyi, if anyone ever has any questions or concerns or just wants to chat, my message box is always open over on my tumblr!! Find me under @delfiend423 :)


	11. Cigarette Smoke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An old habit resurfaces and lands Peridot in trouble at work

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still editing. Y'all know the spiel.

Peridot couldn’t help but grit her teeth as she dug twenty dollars and exact change from her wallet, smacking each coin down on the counter pointedly and skootching them into perfect little groups as the ghost of her voice kept a tally. With the $20.78 laid out, the tired unshaven middle-aged man behind the gas station counter pushed the money over the far edge and into his hand, the cash register shuddering open with an out-of-tune _ding_ , and the man’s other sweaty hand shoving the box of cigarettes and twelve-ounce can of B-negative blood into Peridot’s reach.

She snatched her purchases and sped out the door with the two items clutched protectively to her chest.

It was a struggle to hold the can in the crook of her elbow while her hands worked to hold her wallet and box of cigarettes all while attempting to fish a match out of the wallet’s cash pocket. The balancing act took about as long as it took to walk two blocks before it came to a successful close, match held tightly in her teeth as Peridot shoved the wallet into her pocket and plucked a single smoke from the box and ultimately pocketing that too. She struck the match against the brick of the graffiti-saturated walls stretching along the churned-up sidewalk, bringing the flame with a trembling hand up to the tip of the cigarette. A flood of relief hit her like a wave as it began to smolder, the flaming match promptly waved to extinction before falling to the ground. Breathing in a long and irritating drag off the cigarette, Peridot plucked the nicotine-filled paper roll between her teeth and exhaled a cloud of smoke into the air in front of her face. Holding the cigarette between two fingers, Peridot finally fetched the can of blood from where it was pinned between an elbow and her ribcage, popping the tab and taking a thick gulp of the iron-rich liquid inside, sending a buzz throughout her brain.

The cigarette was burned away quickly, turned from paper and tar to smoke filling lungs and a hum tingling through Peridot’s consciousness. The can was visited infrequently, and was only worked away in small gulps and tentative sips. Peridot was halfway through her fourth smoke by the time she rolled up lackadaisically to the back door of _The Ruby and the Sapphire_. Normally, she would have stomped the thing out beneath her shoe and that would’ve been that. But with the can of blood sloshing about all but empty in her hand having cost her twice what it should have, it made ever last cigarette worth _that_ much more. Instead, Peridot moseyed her way farther down the alley, taking the second to last sip of her drink between two long drags, eyes blinking to adjust from the street-lamp lined sidewalks to the inky black of the alley.

“I smell blood.”

Peridot froze at the voice, caught in the middle of a drag, coughing violently as she unconsciously held the smoke in her lungs a little too long. In the blink of an eye, three figures loomed up and surrounded Peridot, eyes glowing faintly in the dark.

“Hey loser.” Lars sneered.

Peridot rolled her eyes, breathing in off her cigarette and pushing the smoke into her coworker’s face. “Hello Lars. Buck. S.C.” She eyed the college kids, no-nonsense. “Is there a problem?”

“You’re on Blood Brothers turf,” Lars announced with a proud sort of menace.

Peridot eyed him sharply, drinking the last dregs of blood from her can. “Yeah, I’m calling bullshit. This has never been Blood Brothers territory and you know that.”

“Yeah? Well, we’re _making_ it our turf and you better not get in our way!!” Lars snarled; Buck and Sour Cream nodded in quiet approval.

“Try me.” Peridot shrugged, crunching the can in her fist and tossing it half-heartedly into Lars’ face.

In an instant, Lars had two fistfuls of Peridot’s dress shirt, yanking her off her tip-toes, the both of them baring fangs and becoming riled off the other’s aggression.

“Hey!!” Sheena’s voice cut through to both of them, turning heads; she was heading to the back door of the bar, happening to pass the group by on her way. “You two _want_ to get fired or do you want to go clock in and get you asses to work!? We open in an hour!!”

Peridot was the first to shake herself from the fight, pushing hard into Lars’ chest and succeeding and freeing herself as the two of them went stumbling apart. She was practically running for Sheena when Lars pissed snarl reached her ears, trotting beside her sleep-deprived boss as she tossed unsure glances back towards the vampires, taking a nervous drag off her miraculously intact cigarette.

Sheena eyed her in distasteful surprise. “Fun-size, you’re not smoking, are you..?”

“No…!” Peridot protested as she tapped ash from the tip of her smoke.

Sheena crossed her arms, voice getting real serious. “You know I’m obligated to report this to Garnet, right?”

Peridot hurled the cigarette away, eyes wild as she looked to Sheena in distress. “I wasn’t smoking, okay!? Honest!!”

Sheena fixed her with a disappointed and worried look, staying silent. The lack of a concrete answer sent Peridot into a tizzy, hands tugging at hair.

“I wasn’t! I wasn’t smoking!! It was—… it was just _one_ smoke, I swear!! Stressful weekend, working off a blood-low _…_ _it was just one, seriously…_!” Her teeth worked anxiously to reduce her nails from stubs to stubbier stubs. “Don’t tell Garnet, Sheena, please…”

Sheena sighed, voice the epitome of being let down. “Peridot…”

Groaning in absolute agony, Peridot sprinted away and bolted through the back door of the bar to escape whatever serious talk Sheena had queued up for her, only to come tumbling right into the trap that was Pearl at the end of a long day running the bar.

“Peridot!!” She snapped. “You’re l—!”

Pearl’s words got cut short as Peridot sprinted from the door right into her, trapping her in a hug and blubbering helplessly. “­Pearl- _erl_ - _erlllll_!!”

Immediately Pearl was hugging her back, patting her hair comfortingly. “Goodness Peridot! What’s the matter…!?” The words were sacredly out of the bar owner’s mouth before she began coughing. "Peridot… is that cigarette smoke on your clothes…? You weren’t smoking, were you..? Because last time—”

Peridot zipped free from her embrace and bolted through the swing doors into the dining room, spotting two figures sitting at the bar and losing her fear to her curiosity.

“Steven..?”

The young teen looked up at the mention of his name, smiling brightly as he spun around in his stool to face the disheveled vampire. “Hey Peridot! This is my friend Connie.”

The other figure, a girl who while seemingly younger than Steven gave off an air of great maturity, turned around upon hearing the mention of her name, smiling sweetly at Peridot as she adjusted her glasses. “Oh, hello.”

Steven grinned to his friend. “This is Peridot. I met her over the summer. She’s a vampire.”

“ _Steven_..!!” Peridot hissed in absolute mortification.

“Oh…” Steven blushed.

“A vampire? That’s so cool!” Connie mooned, smiling brightly. “We have a vampire in my class at school. His name’s Adam. He’s really nice and sweet, but he always has to stay after school for a long time before the sun goes down and he can go home, so my friends and I started a club! It gives us an excuse to stay after school and hang out with Adam. We do homework, play games, and the school has started letting us use the gym for sports, too! Adam says he wants to join the basketball team, but they won’t let him because he has an unfair advantage during night games, you know, from being a vampire. So we put together a petition that’s currently making its way through the school. It’s for a vampire exclusive basketball team. That way, _everyone_ has an advantage and therefore _no one_ has an advantage. Some of the boys on the current team said they’d want to join the vampire league; they don’t care that they’d be at a disadvantage, they just like a challenge!”

“Connie,” Steven giggled. “You’re rambling a little again…”

“Oh, am I?” She blushed. “S-Sorry, Ms. Peridot!”

“Just Peridot, thanks,” The vampire smiled, unable to help but feel all warm inside from Connie’s story. “I’m a college student, not a schoolteacher. So Steven, what are you two doing here…?”

“Connie was supposed to come over and hang out at my place, but my mom had to work late and my dad too, so I asked Aunt Pearl if we could hang out here and she said yes.”

“Steven’s just not allowed to use magic.” Connie giggled, blushing into her hands.

Steven grinned guilty. “Yep. Not allowed to use magic.”

Peridot narrowed her eyes at the two of them. “Oh really?”

There was a soft knock on the glass front door, and the three of them turned to stare at Steven, arms full of snacks, waving at them as best he could. The Steven at the bar immediately hopped down and ran to the door, unlocking it and letting himself inside.

“Thank you Steven,” Snack-Steven smiled as he carried his bounty to the bar.

“No problem, Steven,” Bar-Steven grinned as he shut the door and locked it again before joining himself at the bar. “Looks like you did good, Steven!”

Snack-Steven, with his hands all free, beamed. “Up top, Steven!”

The two of them high fived, and in the aftermath of the sound there was but a single Steven in the room once more, who turned and giggled madly with Connie. Peridot couldn’t help but smile at the two of them as her own heart ached, wishing things could be as simple for _her_ as they were for the two young lovers. What they had was pure. Straightforward. Neither holding a gun on the other.

“I—… I best be getting to work,” She managed to get the words out around a mountain of guilt. “It was great seeing you again Steven. And it was very nice to meet you, Connie.”

“Peridot..?” Pearl poked her head through the doors leading to the back. “Can you come back here for a second..?”

“There’s my cue,” Peridot smiled sheepishly at the kids, jabbing her thumb in Pearl’s direction.

“Bye! It was nice to meet you too…!”

“Bye Peri!” Steven waved, climbing back onto his barstool. “You’re still my favorite vampire!”

“And you’re still my favorite wizard!” Peridot replied as she headed for the back.

“Half-wizard!” Steven corrected with a giggle.

“And half rock star!” Peridot winked, pushing past the doors and into the back room.

Sheena’s voice hit Peridot like a ton of bricks, harsh and threatening.

“It’s unacceptable.”

Lars was practically cornered by the bar owner and her deceptively nonchalant posture of folded arms and hip-cocked lean. His hands were shoved down into his pockets, narrow shoulders curled to his ears, fangs barred as he seethed in his own little bubble of feigned toughness.

“You of all humans should get it, MG,” He huffed defensively. “It’s a vampire thing!”

Sheena gestured towards the door. “You don’t see Peridot threatening people in the back of alleys.”

Lars' eyes bored viciously into the small girl, fangs flashing, voice degrading. “Peridot is _not_ a real vampire.”

Peridot twitched, something snapping mentally as an absolute rage washed over her unexpectedly.

“You know what!? Fuck you, Lars!!” She snapped, stomping towards him and Sheena. “I could _tear_ your half-breed ass to _pieces_ if I wanted to!!”

Pearl blocked her path in an instant, and for once in his life Lars was silent.

“Calm down.” Pearl instructed sternly, a tremor in her voice giving away her fear.

Peridot stood there, hands balled in fists, skin electrified, mind clouded with anger, but she made no move to shove past Pearl, though to do so would have been as easy as pushing past a feather. Instead she ground her teeth, breath puffing out her nose from the adrenaline racing her pulse.

“You’re _scum_ , Lars,” She snarled, voice low.

“And you’re a disgrace to your name, Peri­- _snot_ ,” Lars growled. “What would your parents think, huh!?”

“Okay, _E-NOUGH_!!!” Sheena barked, looking like she was about to clean Lars’ clock. “Lars!! Dining room and dishes; get to cleaning!! Peridot, take the bar. I don’t want to hear another _word_ out of _either_ of you unless it’s to a customer, you hear me!? Now get to work!!”

Lars sulked away from Sheena, muttering under his breath about fairness and the distinct lack of it. Pearl still stood between him and Peridot as he passed the angry vampire by and out the doors. The moment he disappeared into the dining room, Peridot shook free of Pearl’s barricade, head ducked as she made a dash for the doors that led behind the bar.

“Hold up a moment, Peri.” Sheena spoke quietly, calmly.

Peridot froze where she stood, not trusting herself to say a word.

“I’m sorry for his comments. I’m sure he didn’t mean—”

“It’s fine…” Peridot blurted quickly, taking another step towards the door.

“Peri.”

She froze again.

“I’m only going to ask this once.” Sheena sighed, walking out and putting a hand on the small girl’s tense shoulder. “Hand over the cigarettes…”

Peridot didn’t hesitate, pulling the pack from her pocket and placing it in Sheena’s outstretched hand, eyes glued on a particularly interesting groove in the tile floor. Sheena opened the box, peering inside and brows cinching with worry.

“There’s four missing.”

Peridot’s silence was as much of an answer as the bar owner needed.

“Peridot—”

“Can I get to work now?” Peridot cut in, more depressed than irritated.

Sheena hesitated a moment, then checked the time. “Yeah. Go ahead.”

Peridot needed no further prompting to disappear past the swing doors.

No sooner had Peridot begun scrubbing water spots out of the pint glasses that Pearl pushed through the doors and joined her behind the bar, face a perfect picture of concern.

“Steven, Connie, go get your coats from the back. I’ll be taking you two home in just a moment.”

“Yes ma’am!” Connie chimed.

“Will do, Aunt Pearl!” Steven saluted, taking no time at all for him and Connie to scoop up their things from the bar and disappear into the back.

Peridot rolled her eyes, hunching her shoulders as she kept her eyes fixed on her work and tried to mentally shut the ethereal woman out. It was a hard task to accomplish with Pearl making a beeline for the anxious and disheveled Peridot.

“Peridot, are you alright..?” The concern seemed a genuine sentiment, void of its usual bait and spite.

 “Perfectly peachy, thanks,” Peridot replied curtly, voice little more than hot air hissing past her clenched teeth.

“No, I mean it,” Pearl pressed, still sounding genuine despite the sort of response that would have sent her into an indignant tizzy any other day. “Sheena mentioned you were in here drinking with a girl yesterday…”

Peridot tensed.

Pearl continued, oblivious. “And, well, with you and the cigarettes, I figured—… all I mean to say is I remember how you got when Amethyst broke it off, and—”

“ _Pearl_ ,” Peridot cut in, voice strangled. “Don’t….”

“I-I-I didn’t mean to—!” Pearl stuttered, quite flustered from her touching on the delicate subject, though recovering her composure quickly. “All I meant to say, Peridot, is that… we’re here for you. If you need to talk…”

Peridot bit her tongue as a bitter and malicious reply queued up in her throat, swallowing it down and choosing her words carefully. “Thank you… I’ll keep that in mind, promise…”

“You’re welcome,” Pearl beamed, clearly enamored with herself for being what she considered to be a help. “So, what’s she like? Is she nice? Not _too_ edgy, I hope. I know you have a type…”

“Pearl _please_ ,” Peridot groaned, hearing the pint glass crack beneath a tightening grip. “It’s really not a good time…”

“ _Oh my goodness_!” Pearl gasped, horrified. “Did you two—!?”

“Break up?” Peridot finished the question tersely, suddenly finding herself asking the same question. “It’s—… complicated… but I don’t think so, no…”

“Oh good!” Pearl cheered, clapping her hands together delightedly. “Now I don’t feel bad telling you that your tab still stands.”

Peridot cringed. “Can you… give me a day or two..? T-To talk to her about splitting the bill…?”

“Yeah, you have until Sunday.” Pearl smiled, the innocent expression turning indulgent. “So what’s her name? Does she know you’re a hideous bloodsucking creature of the night yet?”

“You’re a riot Pearl,” Peridot rolled her eyes. “Ever consider stand up?” She flashed an innocent smile up at her boss. “Because you won’t be able to when I snap your legs.”

Pearl flinched, bounding back a solid pace out of Peridot’s reach.

“Right.” Peridot snorted to herself. “Have a good night Pearl. Great talking to you, as always.”

“Bitch!!” Pearl seethed as she headed towards the back huffily.

“That’s me,” Peridot shrugged, going back to cleaning the now-cracked pint glass.

It was a Sunday, and like all Sundays, the night drug on at the pace of a frozen snail. The regulars came and went, but there was always at least one individual nursing a bottle of beer at any given time, keeping Peridot and Lars and Sheena from being able to just goof off. Peridot was busy polishing the bar top spotless, pretending not to notice as Lars poured himself a shot of the good bourbon and tipped it back, covering up all evidence of the transgression before returning to wash dishes as the front door opened and triggered the bell that sat above the doorframe. Peridot was completely focused on a spot she couldn’t distinguish between a scuff or a smudge as the customer took a seat at the bar. It was only when they spoke did Peridot nearly have a heart attack.

“Two Cokes, one for me and a cherry for you.”

Peridot’s eyes bored into the werewolf, her cheeky grin of canine teeth, her half-shaved head and overly wild lilac-dyed hair, the variety of piercings running up the edge of her exposed ear, the barbell piercing through the edge of her eyebrow, the ball piercing in her nose, the predatory yellow of her eyes, one of which was purple and yellow with a black eye, nose bruised and bandaged from a break. Peridot’s eye twitched as a shiver dashed up her spine involuntarily.

“The fuck are you doing her, Amethyst?”

“I called,” Amethyst shrugged, running a finger across the bar top and examining it patronizingly. “You didn’t answer. So I figured we’d do this the old fashion way.”

“My phone broke,” Peridot replied flatly.

Amethyst’s eyebrows shot up, eyes still on her finger in the most lackadaisical of looks. “Oh?”

“Yeah. I smashed it after our last call.”

Amethyst finally looked Peridot in the eye, coyness disappearing into thin air. “Oh…”

Peridot gave a slight shrug, turning to retrieve the Cokes from the back, taking her sweet time as she stuck her head in the fridge and worked hard to keep her breathing under control and her eyes dry. When she returned to the bar, Peridot was as stone faced as she was going to be, pushing the Coke towards Amethyst and opening the can of Cherry Coke for herself.

“Look, about that…” Amethyst began with the unhappy air that she approached all apologies with, opening her Coke and listening to it hiss. “I—… don’t really remember what we said..? The pack and I were out drinking in the woods, right? I was already several shots deep and on my third or fourth cup of something-or-another…”

“You’re an idiot.” Peridot shook her head.

“Okay, sure, I’ll take that,” Amethyst shrugged. “But… what did I say exactly…? Clearly has your panties in a twist, whatever it was…”

Peridot tensed, can collapsing a degree in her grip. “Nothing in particular. It was my fault really. Shouldn’t have tried to talk with you while you were drunk. And on a full moon, no less.”

Amethyst smiled innocently. “Good old Dot, taking the bullet! Hey, good to see we’re back to square one, right?” She grinned, managing to jostle Peridot a bit with a long reach of her elbow. “You sure it’s not a big deal..?”

“Water under the bridge,” Peridot muttered, taking a gulp of her coke.

“ _Perfecto_!” Amethyst grinned, holding up her can. “A toast to Peridot, my buddy, my pal, _mi amiga_!”

“Shut up,” Peridot rolled her eyes, leaning on the bar. “Tell me: how was your Saturday?”

“You mean the full moon?” Amethyst laughed. “Aw man, you shoulda been there, P! We only had one guy turn involuntarily, a newbie. Couple of the guys agreed to keep an eye on him. The rest of us had the wrestling match of the century! Like, wrestling on a regular day is great, but under a full moon, all of us turned, the smell of the woods all primal and shit, oh man!! It was great!”

“I take it that’s where you got the black eye and the broken nose?” Peridot eyed her distastefully.

Amethyst wiggled her eyebrows, voice thick with mocking. “Don’t play coy, you know you like it. You think it’s _hot as fuck_.”

“ _Fuck off_ ,” Peridot snapped tiredly, taking up a perfectly clean glass and busying herself making it cleaner.

“Sorry, sorry!” Amethyst huffed unapologetically, switching the subject easily. “But hey, I didn’t come all this way to exchange weekend stories. You know, considering yours is probably _I sat at home and played Overwatch for twenty hours straight._ ”

Peridot couldn’t help but laugh, less at the jab than how utterly far from the truth it was. Amethyst still took the sound to mean she was comedic gold, grinning boastfully.

“No, but in all seriousness,” Amethyst buddied up to the bar as she spoke. “It’s about the hunters. There’s been a bit of a development…”

Peridot raised an eyebrow, thinking of Lapis. “Oh really?”

Amethyst nodded. “Not that’d you’d have any clue, Peri, but there haven’t been any more victims since the full moon.”

“Well that’s good,” Peridot replied as evenly as she could muster, appreciating the irony in Amethyst’s assumption internally.

“Yeah, well, doesn’t mean the murders won’t start cropping up again,” Amethyst growled, canine teeth bared in a snarl. “But thankfully people in high places are starting to do something about it.”

“What do you mean?” The words jumped out of Peridot’s mouth before she could keep them under emotional control.

Amethyst leaned in further, jabbing a thumb towards the front door. “Word on the street is Marty Manaegre and Smiley Wolfsbane met up to discuss a sort of alliance.”

“No fucking way!” Peridot snarled, brow scrunching up in utter bafflement. “Vampires and werewolves!? Teaming up?”

“Yeah, who woulda thought?” Amethyst snorted humorlessly as she drank from her coke.

 Peridot’s thoughts tumbled out verbally. “Sure, small sects of the two aren’t unheard of, but the Blood Brothers and The Fangs are the two biggest, most traditional gangs in all of Empire State… hell, the biggest probably in both the East and the Midwest! They wouldn’t team up! _Couldn’t_ , really…”

Amethyst shrugged. “Look, that’s what I heard. And the source is credible.” She gave a humorless laugh through her nose. “Boy, if it turns out to be true, those damn hunters better looks out! There’ll be nowhere to hide when the Blood Brothers and The Fangs combine territory _and_ forces.”

“It’s… reassuring, thanks Amethyst…” Peridot managed, lost in a sea of conflicting feelings.

“Reason I tell you is… I’m thinking of joining up, if this all really does go down.”

Peridot’s eyes snapped over to stare disbelievingly at her friend. “ _What..!?_ ”

“Yeah,” Amethyst shrugged, finishing off her Coke and stealing Peridot’s from her hand. “If I can help make the supernatural community safe again, you can bet your ass I’m going to play my part! You should, too.”

“I would _never_ join a gang, Amethyst.” Peridot snapped angrily, eyes blazing.

Amethyst looked at her, a little annoyed. “Yeah, okay, so you had a bad experience in the past, I get it. But you could still—”

“You _don’t_ get it! You’ve _never_ gotten it, Amethyst!!” Peridot was practically yelling, tears welling up in her eyes and trailing down her cheeks unexpectedly; she took in a deep breath, trying to calm down. “Look, you want to join up, _fine_. Great! Fantastic! But there is no way in _hell_ I’m ever making _that_ mistake ever again!! _Ever_ , do you understand!?”

“Alright, alright!!” Amethyst put up her hands defensively, clearly biting back some harsh replies, fishing cash from her pocket and setting it on the bar. “Look P, get yourself a new phone. If I can’t call you to get your ass out of that rats' nest of an apartment of yours, I’ll have to hike all the way across town to kick your door down and do it in person. So for the sake of preserving my down time…”

Peridot rolled her eyes, sticking the money under the bar, already calming down considerably. “Can’t. Phones aren’t cheap. Just email me or something.”

Amethyst snorted, getting up. “Well in that case, you’re free to come over to _my_ place and ask _me_ to hang out. Maybe we could hit up some frat parties next weekend or something.”

“Sure,” Peridot sighed tiredly. “Yeah, we’ll see…”

“And hey, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry for the comments I made Friday. And for whatever the hell I said yesterday.”

“Yeah,” Peridot looked to her, feeling the breath freeze in her lungs. “Me too.”

Amethyst grinned, tossing a wink her friend’s way. “See you later, nerd!”

“Alright…” Peridot breathed to herself, watching the werewolf walk out the door and disappear from sight.

She poured herself a shot of the good bourbon and gulped it down in desperation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Predictions? Theories? Headcanons? Let's hear 'em!! :)


	12. We Need To Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot and Lapis have a talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My lovely readers,
> 
> I would like to inform you all that it may be a little bit before Chapter 13 gets posted. At the moment, I am about to launch into finals week for school, after which I will be home but I will also be working for the holidays. On top of this, we have entered into territory in this fic that hasn't really been thought out as thoroughly as chapters 1 through 12 were; big plot points are solidified, but the content in between is essentially a blank slate. This simply means I need time to do some planning and plotting on my own before I can put these coming chapters into writing. And with the addition of my non-writing life getting all hectic on me, it is bound to be a while before I have the time to plan, let alone write. 
> 
> I didn't want you all checking in constantly for new updates, ergo the little announcement. Sorry for the inconvenience, but I promise once the chapters are up and posting again, we'll be in a pretty good streak of nonstop content. So stay tuned! And Happy Holidays to everyone if I don't get to posting before then!! :)

“Peridot.”

She turned, surprised to find Lapis had descended into the apartment laundry room where Peridot found herself washing the Axe out of her clothes. The vampire smiled brightly behind an overflowing armful of dripping wet sweats and shirts, happy as ever to see her lover but unable to help but be a tiny bit baffled as to the blue-haired goddess’ lack of laundry.

“Hey Lapis!” Peridot chimed, shoving her wet washing into an awaiting dryer before diving back into the overheated washer for more. “What brings you down here..?”

Lapis stepped forward, face an unreadable, rather foreboding expression. “We need to talk.”

“About what?” Peridot laughed good-naturedly, struggling to keep the armful of wet clothes from spilling to the floor as she reached into the very back of the washer for a stray sock.

“Your past.”

Peridot felt her eye twitch, the phrasing of the words striking a disharmonious chord in her head. Slowly, she pulled her head from the washer and stood up straight, looking Lapis warily in the eye. The hunter had covered half the distance from the stairs to where Peridot stood.

“My… past..?” Peridot swallowed difficultly. “Like… my childhood, or—?”

“I know what happened,” Lapis stated flatly. “I found your records.”

Peridot turned to ice, wanting to run but finding her feet immobile, watching in terror as Lapis began to step, slowly, deliberately, covering the remainder of the distance…

“I-I-I can explain…!” Peridot stuttered, tears already racing down her cheeks. “It was an accident..! I-I was young, a-and stupid, and—… Lapis, _please_ …! I didn’t mean to hurt anyone, I—”

The gun clicked in Lapis hand, coming to rest on Peridot’s forehead. Peridot shut her eyes tight.

“ _Please_ …”

The gun sounded with a _knock knock knock!!_

Peridot snapped bolt upright in bed, a gasp tearing into her lungs as her eyes stared wide as saucers around the room in a panic. Beads of cold sweat had gathered on her forehead, gluing her meager sleepwear to her skin that was covered up, and the sheets to the skin that wasn’t. A headache throbbed at her temples, rattling her skull with such a pain that no amount of nightmare-fueled terror could keep her upright a moment longer, head thwacking back into her sweat-soaked pillow and twisting to bury her eyes into the soothing darkness of the cushion. After a moment, there was some relief to the swarm of pain in her head, and then it flared back up as three more knocks landed on the door.

_Knock knock knock!!_

“Peridot..?” Lapis’ voice called from the other side, utterly friendly in contrast to the Lapis haunting her dreams. “Don’t tell me you’re still in bed! It’s one-thirty! We agreed on one-thirty!”

Peridot groaned loudly, yanking the covers from over her feet so that they covered her head and shrouded her in darkness.

“Come _on_ Peri!” Lapis huffed impatiently. “Don’t make me pick the lock! You _know_ I can!”

Peridot groaned even louder, curling up in a ball beneath her covers and snagging her alien plush to hug and bury her face in.

For a few minutes, there was perfect and blissful silence, the only sound in the room the soothing hum of computer fans and the infrequent drip of the kitchen faucet. And then the lock clicked into place and the door went flying open on its weakened hinges.

“Peridot Something Something Quinn!!” Lapis chided as she barged into the room and shut the door with her foot as she re-bent her bobby pin and pushed it into place in her hair. “Get up _this instant_ or so help me I’ll _tickle_ you out of bed!”

Peridot hugged the covers tight around her, squeaking in something of a panic. “I’m not decent!!”

“Oh really?” Lapis purred, tugging to lift the bedsheets up for a peek. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

Peridot yanked the covers back down, but with the sun high in the sky, she was no match for Laps’ strength. The covers came flying off, and Peridot was left red as a tomato, knuckles turning white as she tugged the hem of her sleep shirt down to keep covered up well past her knees in her fetal position on the mattress.

Lapis eyed the situation with a self-indulgent smirk, hand poised thoughtfully at her bottom lip as her eyes made short work of the scene. “You know Peri, I always wondered something about you…”

Peridot glared in response, which didn’t faze Lapis in the slightest.

“Just how ticklish _are_ you?”

The question was hardly out of those smirking lips before Lapis’ hands worked swiftly, fluttering over ribs and exposed neck and feet and the whole nine yards, sending Peridot into a helpless fit of kicking and squirming and smothered giggling, her own hands working double time to catch Lapis’ and cease the onslaught. Lapis only backed off when she was certain the blonde wasn’t breathing anymore, taking a quick step back as Peridot reached out with surprising speed and landed a quick tickle to Lapis’ stomach, exposed beneath her crop-top shirt.

“Enough fooling around,” She laughed as she pushed her blue bangs from her eyes, sticking her hands on her hips to appear serious. “You and I have got some talking to do.”

Peridot sat up in her bed, legs crossed as she rubbed sleepily at her eyes, stretching to grab her glasses from her bedside table as Lapis walked to the kitchen counter.

“I brought you what you wanted,” She said, holding up a half-gallon jug and a pizza box she had set down upon entering. “Half a gallon of B-positive and a pizza. Well… half a pizza…”

“Half a pizza?” Peridot complained half-heartedly, pushing her bed-head hair out of her eyes and kneading it back into some semblance of its normal shape. “Don’t tell me you already ate _half_ a pizza…”

“It wasn’t me!” Lapis protested as she opened the box and took a slice for herself, leaning up against the counter. “Jasper came home this morning. Ate half the damn thing before I could even say hello.”

Peridot rolled to her feet, padding across the room to retrieve a pair of sweatpants from a pile of dirty clothes and pulling them on underneath her oversized sleep shirt. Satisfied with having something covering her bright red Marvel underwear, she made her way over to the counter and stole herself a slice of the pizza, wolfing it down with a surprising appetite.

“So,” Lapis smiled around a mouthful of food. “How was work? Did you hide in the bathroom all night, or is that just something you do for me?”

“Ha ha,” Peridot rolled her eyes, though the blush on her cheeks was obvious. “Look, I thought I was losing control. I was just taking precautions…”

“You needed to sneeze,” Lapis tried to stifle her giggling. “You went flying into the bathroom, locked the door, and two seconds later…. _Achoo!_ ” She mimicked the sound of Peridot’s kitten-esque sneeze, proceeding in turning the color of the vampire’s freckled face a few shades redder.

Peridot’s shoulders hiked up as she tried to disappear, eyes trained on her slice of pizza, voice little more than a mumble. “I didn’t know _what_ was going to happen… I didn’t want to hurt you…”

“I know,” Lapis scooted closer, coming arm to arm with Peridot as they leaned on the counter together. “But… you don’t think _four_ hours locked in the bathroom was a bit… overkill…?”

“Lapis…” Peridot pleaded meekly.

“I’m just kidding, Peri,” She replied in soft amusement, leaning at a more exaggerated angle so as to nuzzle into Peridot’s hair. “I appreciate your concern… _and_ your caution… “

Peridot shifted her place against the counter, pointedly putting a margin of distance between herself and Lapis reluctantly. “Speaking of concern…”

Lapis looked hurt and confused for a brief moment, then quickly buried it all beneath a forced smile. “Right. How do we want to do this..?”

“Flip a coin…?” Peridot suggested with an awkward shrug.

“Yeah, alright,” Lapis nodded, fishing a penny out of her pocket. “Let’s say… heads I go first, tails you go first…?”

Peridot gave a nod, watching in anticipation as Lapis flicked the coin into the air and let it drop to the ground. Lapis bent down and stared at the results.

“Heads.”

Peridot gave a nod. “You wanna… sit on the couch, or—…?”

“Yeah, that works…” Lapis sighed, hands beginning to toy with the hem of her jean shorts out of nervousness, walking over to the simple two-person couch and taking a seat.

Peridot followed, bringing the pizza box along and setting it on the floor by their feet, lowering gingerly into her spot on the couch, folded hands pinched between her legs. There was a long silence between the two of them before Peridot spoke hesitantly.

“So do I just… ask you whatever..?”

Lapis shrugged, hands still fidgeting with the fray on the weathered shorts. “Sure, why not…?”

“How’d you figure me out..? I mean, how’d you—?”

“Know you were a vampire…” Lapis sighed heavily, muttering to herself. “How’d I know that’d be the first thing you’d ask…”

“You don’t have to—” Peridot stuttered a bit.

“No, this is about openness. We’re being open with each other. You want to know, so I’ll tell you. It’s that simple…”

Lapis took a deep breath, letting it back out in a sigh.

“Day one. Saturday night. It was late. Jasper and I were moving in, you were just getting home. That was the first thing that sort of… struck me as “vampire” about you, returning home as late as you were without being drunk or anything. You were just… out late. But people do that, don’t they; go out late? You don’t _have_ to be drinking to be out late. So I set myself up for clue number two: lunch. Any individual capable of going out and getting a bite to eat in the afternoon would’ve done just that. But you deflected… suggested a late-night affair, the rock concert. But hey, maybe you just wanted to take things fast, skip the casual lunch date in favor of something a little more serious, a little more committed.

“If…. I’m being honest with myself, with _you_ … Wednesday night, at the concert, that should have been it. I could have tested you, exposed you, and disposed of you all in that night. If you had been _anyone_ else, I _would_ have, but… Tuesday, when I put bleach in Jasper’s shampoo and you and I ran away to the 24-Hour Mart…” She smiled to herself. “I think… I think I might have just fallen in love with you, Peridot… maybe a little… maybe a lot… doesn’t matter, I guess. It was enough to throw my plans for our date into a full one-eighty spin. I said to myself _Lapis. You don’t love her. Get yourself together._ And I thought I had my head on straight, had my priorities straight… until I saw you on Wednesday, until I was subjugated to those awful one-liners you call flirting…” She laughed just a bit. “I should have given it up. Should have just… stopped trying to expose you and just enjoy our date. But I didn’t. I took your license once we were inside, tried to tell if it was real Government Issue, but it wasn’t, it was a fake; your age was off. And then I drug you through the crowd right up by the stage to see if you could stand the noise, and you couldn’t. I found you back by the vampires about to get your nose broken and your teeth smashed in; I thought for sure you’d have your fangs out for that rumble, but when I got around to checking, they weren’t there. And there you were, being so damn cute and so damn dorky all at once… I’d wouldn't be lying if I said I quite literally lost track of what I was doing. I _wanted_ that date with you, Peri. I wanted to impress you, to—… to _have_ you… I would have, too, if you hadn’t brought me back to Earth… in all honesty, I was _mortified_ that I was so ready to sleep with a vampire. Or, at least, I was mostly certain that's what you were. But I wasn’t certain just yet…

“Friday, I asked you to hang out with me. During the day. It was very blunt, and not very crafty in the slightest, but it was the only way I could be certain you were a vampire or not. When you refused to hang out with me, despite quite _clearly_ wanting to, I pretty much had you pegged. And when I offered a truce of a night out, you agreed instantly despite all the “homework” you claimed to have. I told myself _Lapis, she’s a vampire. Whatever feelings you might have for her, they don’t matter_. But no matter how many times I told myself what I felt for you didn’t matter, in the end, I couldn’t do it. Not _just_ because you wouldn’t attack me, but because I couldn’t kill you, and I couldn’t deny the fact that I… _care_ , about you… a lot… And I realize now, it doesn’t matter _what_ you are, Peri, my feelings for you haven’t changed since the first time we kissed on the hood of my Mustang…”

Peridot sat in perfect silence, staring down at her hands as she took it all in. Lapis, too, fell silent, watching Peridot with unchecked anticipation as the silence drew on.

“Peridot..?”

“Jasper,” Peridot cut in, voice trembling despite her efforts to keep herself calm. “Does Jasper know..?”

“No, oh my gosh, no!” Lapis sounded almost shocked. “I haven’t told a soul, Peri! Not even the guy at the gas station where I bought that thing of blood..!”

Peridot looked at her, her expressionless visage breaking into one of anguish. “But couldn’t she have figured me out too, if you could have..?!”

“No!” Lapis reassured. “Peri, _I_ deal with vampires. _I’m_ the one that knows how to pick one out of a crowd..!”

“Then what does Jasper do!?” Peridot asked with rising panic. “Is she even a hunter..?”

Lapis snorted. “Is she a hunter? Are you kidding me?”

Peridot looked to her with a face so ashen and terrified that Lapis instantly wished she could take the words back.

“No, what I mean is—… she’s been at this a lot longer than me, yeah, but she doesn’t ever hunt vampires…”

“Then…” Peridot was starting to piece it all together in her mind and she wasn’t liking the picture.

“She goes after were-creatures,” Lapis elaborated. “Doesn’t even use a gun most of the time. Just... overpowers them, I guess. You gotta catch them at the right time, see… I-I don’t really understand the craft of were-hunting, but Jasper, she’s probably written the fucking book…”

“So…” Peridot gulped. “She… _isn’t_ good at… you know… figuring out vampires..?”

Lapis shook her head. “That takes skill too! I’ve worked for close to five years to get as good as I have, and to be honest I’m not even that good…” She gestured to Peridot with a soft, playful smile. “Case and point. I’ve got one hell of a fine fanged female right here, and all I want to do is snog the hell out of her.”

Peridot turned bright red, but managed to keep her composure. “Lapis, be serious…”

“I _am_ being serious!” Lapis pouted, crossing her arms.

Peridot sighed, sinking back into the couch and staring at the wall, lost in troubling thought. After another bout of tense silence, Lapis was the one to break it.

“You can still ask questions, you know…”

“I know,” Peridot replied quietly. “But… I need some time to think for a bit…”

Lapis hesitated. “Mind if I ask _you_ some questions then..?”

Peridot looked at her, a little surprised, but nodded anyways. “Sure… go ahead…”

“So…” Lapis sighed reluctantly. “Vampires… what’s, uh… what’s up with that..?”

Peridot gave her a pained expression. “Could you… be more specific..?”

“Like…” Lapis’ hands began to fidget again, her voice strained with hesitation. “Okay so… I’ll admit, most of what I know about vampires is… from movies… and books... And it doesn’t all mesh together, um… everything portrays vampires a little differently… I just want to know the truth…”

Peridot shifted in her seat uncomfortably. “Well, unfortunately, despite… _being_ a vampire and all… I’m not exactly an expert in the field of… vampire-ology or what have you…”

“Okay, well, just, um…” Lapis looked at her, unsure. “Tell me what you _do_ know… a-about yourself, other vampires you know… etcetera etcetera…”

“Anything… specific..?”

Lapis looked down at her hands, stiffening. “Do you really need blood? I mean, I _know_ you do, you said so yourself, but like—… why? What is it for? What does it do for you?”

Peridot nodded slowly. “Okay… uh…” She sighed, rubbing the back of her head as she thought hard. “Again, _not_ an expert here, by any means, but… I know that what sets vampires and humans apart is a single gene… a-and in its activation, it allows for the expression of a range of uh, molecules and whatever… those molecules act as hormones, brain signals, digestive enzymes… a lot of different stuff, _physical_ stuff that makes us different. One, in particular—we were just talking about it in my Vampire Biology class—the gene makes a protein that modifies the production of hemoglobin, the stuff in the blood that carries oxygen around. Basically, vampires can carry I think something like 300% more oxygen per red blood cell than humans, which essentially fuels some of our varying… _abilities_ , if you will…”

“Like your super senses..?” Lapis asked, all ears and all respectful.

Peridot nodded. “As far as anybody knows—well, as far as _I_ know anybody knows—vampires need blood because, well, it’s the proteins in blood… uh… albumins, globulins, fibrinogen… we need them to balance out our own blood chemistry. It’s whacky, on account of the vampire gene meddling with serum protein structures, like the hemoglobin I mentioned. There’s… another component, in the need to consume blood. I don’t think it’s understood, scientifically, w-whatever it is, but it’s understood by vampires…. It’s… a feeling. Like adrenaline, only… so much _more_ than that… you drink blood and there’s this sense of… it’s almost like… clarity…? You don’t feel distracted by unnecessary thoughts or feelings, you don’t feel a sense of purpose _o-or_ purposelessness…” She let slip a little wry smile. “I hear it’s great for finals week…”

“Is…” Lapis frowned a bit. “Is that how you get addicted..? Chasing that… feeling?”

“It’s not _just_ the feeling that’s addictive. It’s the chemical, in the brain, the uh… neurotransmitter, that’s the term. There’s a special one, built only with the vampire gene turned on. It’s what allows our abilities—super senses, super strength, among other things—and it’s also what causes an addiction. It’s always floating around in tiny tiny doses, but after consuming blood, the components of that blood are prioritized to building a _flood_ of the neurotransmitter. When you drink normally, that flood is the norm. All your abilities are at their peak, your health is top notch, everything’s great. But when you drink _too_ much, you make _even more_ of the neurotransmitter, and suddenly your brain desires _that_ amount all the time. It pushes you to consume at that new, higher level. The symptoms can be as simple as headaches, or as bad as involuntary vomiting and muscle spasms. Usually, the more often you hit that new high without maintaining it, the symptoms become progressively worse as your brain becomes progressively more desperate, so to speak.”

“And… when you forget to drink for a few weeks?” Lapis gave Peridot a look.

Peridot rolled her eyes. “Obviously, my brain isn’t going to _crave_ the new low I hit every day I’m not drinking. But my ability to function degrades. Starts with little things, just, you know, being more tired, it gets harder to think, and then it gets harder to move in general... Next thing you know, you’re sleeping for thirty-six hours at a time and when you are awake you just want to go back to sleep.”

“Has that happened to you..???” Lapis’ voice was hitched with utter concern.

 “No..?” Peridot laughed a little. “I mean, not that I know of. How could I know?”

“Wouldn’t you notice that you’ve missed an entire day..?”

Peridot shrugged. “To be honest… not really..?”

“Awww!!” Lapis rolled from her seat to crush Peridot in a hug, to which the vampire didn’t protest.

“Lapis…” Peridot grumbled.

“You could have _died_ Peri, oh my god!!” Lapis breathed in disbelief, hugging her tighter without realizing, chin resting in the blonde mess of hair. “You could have fallen into an eternal slumber if I hadn’t been here…”

Peridot rolled her eyes, patting Lapis’ back in hopes of appeasing her. “My hero…”

After a minute of being crushed, Peridot finally shoved on Lapis, succeeding in hinting strongly enough that Lapis let her go, looking at her innocently.

“Not that I don’t want to talk anymore Lapis, but I really should fix myself a drink now so I can squeeze another in before I go to bed… a-and I’d feel more comfortable if you weren’t around when it happened…”

“Oh!” Lapis sat up straight in her seat. “You mean the blood!”

Peridot shrunk where she sat, averting her eyes. “I-I mean the blood, yeah…”

“Hey, no problem,” Lapis offered a disarming smile, reaching out and straightening the glasses on Peridot’s faced that had been thrown askew by their hug. “I’ll be at the apartment all day if you need me. Just knock, alright?”

“At the apartment all day, huh?” Peridot gave a meek smile. “New book, isn’t it?”

Lapis grinned. “ _Fight Club_ , yeah.”

“You’ve gotta lend it to me if it’s good.” Peridot flashed a much happier smile.

Lapis’ expression softened, and she leaned in and kissed Peridot on the cheek. “See you later?”

Peridot blushed, looking her in the eye. “Only if you’re lucky.”

Lapis snorted, getting up off the couch. “Dork!”

“Same time tomorrow Lapis..?” Peridot asked, following her neighbor with her eyes, chin rested on the arm of the couch.

“Same time tomorrow," Lapis agreed, half-way out the door. “See ya, Peri! It was a great talk!”

“You too!” Peridot waved, watching as the door shut after her.

The day went by fast. Working on a tall glass of B-positive, squeezing in a few rounds of Overwatch between lecture videos and Lars’ remaining homework that he hadn’t seemed to notice wasn’t complete on time, Peridot looked at the clock and was shocked to realize the sun had already set. In a rush of excitement, she stripped out of her pajamas and into a tank top and shorts, dancing into her tennis shoes as she stumbled down the hallway and knocked on Lapis’ apartment door.

The door opened. It was Jasper.

“Jasper!” Peridot cheered. “You’re home!”

Jasper took one look at Peridot and burst out laughing. “Oh man! You’re real serious about gym gig, aren’t you pipsqueak?”

Peridot puffed out her chest, putting on her meanest expression. “You bet your ass I am!”

“That’s what I like to hear,” Jasper grinned, wiping at her eyes as if the whole thing had actually brought her to tears. “Just give me a minute to get changed. Come on in, champ.”

Jasper stepped aside and ducked into what seemed to be a closet, but instead looked big enough to be a bedroom. Peridot couldn’t help but smirk as she stepped inside. _Two bedrooms_. Rocking from her heels to her tip-toes and back again, Peridot waited on Jasper impatiently.

“Peridot..?”

She turned, spotting Lapis leaning out from around her bedroom door, looking as baffled as the person who discovered the platypus.

“Oh, hey Lapis!” Peridot beamed.

“How’d you get into my apartment…?” Lapis narrowed her eyes in confusion.

“Oh, Jasper let me in. We’re headed to the gym.”

Lapis frowned. “You… and Jasper..?”

Peridot grinned excitedly. “Yeah!”

Lapis shot a look over to Jasper’s door, then quick as a wink had Peridot by the arm, dragging her out of the apartment and shutting the door behind them.

“What do you think you’re doing!?” Lapis hissed, expression dark with seriousness.

It was Peridot’s turn to be baffled. “Um… I just told you..? Me and Jasper—”

“You can’t hang out with Jasper!!" Lapis stated vehemently.

Peridot frowned, looking Lapis in the eye. “Why not..?”

Lapis dropped her voice, pulling Peridot in close by the arm she still hasn’t let go of. “Jasper, she’s not like me. If she finds out you’re a vampire—”

Peridot pushed away. “She won’t find out! You said so yourself!”

Lapis’ eyes blazed, voice getting terse. “No, I said _I’m_ good at picking out vampires and Jasper’s not.”

“Yeah!” Peridot gestured defensively. “So I’ve got nothing to worry about!”

“Peridot!!” Lapis snapped, making a huge effort to calm herself and not getting far with it. “That _doesn’t_ mean she _can’t_ figure you out!! And if she does—”

The door opened, and Jasper looked at the two of them with a smirk.

“Oh hello Lapis. Didn’t know you were still alive in that room of yours." Her gaze shifted to Peridot. "Ready to go, all-star?”

“Ready!” Peridot grinned, receiving a scathing glare from Lapis.

“Alright!” Jasper laughed, giving Lapis a funny glance but little else. “Try not to burn the apartment to the ground while I’m gone, blue. Alright?”

Lapis gave her the most toxic of smiles. “Wouldn’t _dream_ of it, tiger.”

Jasper started down the hallway, and Peridot took to her heels, turning back around to wave down the hall to Lapis.

“Bye Lapis! See you later!”

Lapis stood with her arms crossed across her chest, looking the very picture of a storm cloud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My lovely readers,
> 
> I would like to inform you all that it may be a little bit before Chapter 13 gets posted. At the moment, I am about to launch into finals week for school, after which I will be home but I will also be working for the holidays. On top of this, we have entered into territory in this fic that hasn't really been thought out as thoroughly as chapters 1 through 12 were; big plot points are solidified, but the content in between is essentially a blank slate. This simply means I need time to do some planning and plotting on my own before I can put these coming chapters into writing. And with the addition of my non-writing life getting all hectic on me, it is bound to be a while before I have the time to plan, let alone write. 
> 
> I didn't want you all checking in constantly for new updates, ergo the little announcement. Sorry for the inconvenience, but I promise once the chapters are up and posting again, we'll be in a pretty good streak of nonstop content. So stay tuned! And Happy Holidays to everyone if I don't get to posting before then!! :)


	13. Talk is Cheap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We rejoin Peridot after a week has passed. Things aren't going particularly well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY FUCK GUYS I'M BACK!!! HOLY MOLY SORRY ABOUT THAT WAIT!!! OKAY GO GO READ IT I KNOW YOU WANT TO!!  
> Oh yeah and still doing some editing, you know the drill...

“A date, huh?”

The question reached Peridot through something of an oxygen-deprived haze, the girl sweating buckets through her workout clothes as she sat hunched over on a bench, chest heaving and lungs rattling with each breath, head swimming with a numbness as all her blood circulated in her trembling limbs. The words came from Jasper, who sat beside Peridot on the bench, curling twenty-five-pound weights in both hands in what she called a “cool down” workout, the body-builder having hardly broken a sweat despite bench-pressing a mind-boggling amount of weight beside Peridot and her thirty-pound dumbbell.

“Yeah…” Peridot panted, throat hurting to talk after the strenuous push and pull of air through her windpipe the past few hours. “Dinner, I think…”

“Dinner?” Jasper mused, admiring the flex of her own arms as she curled the weights effortlessly. “Seems a little late for dinner, don’t you think..?”

Peridot shrugged, letting her eyes roam around the empty locker room. “It’s Lapis’ idea.”

Despite the stench of blood and sweat and tears that cooked throughout the overzealously heated gymnasium, the reek of men’s obnoxious cologne rounded out by undertones of chalky protein powder, and the faintest hint of fruit smoothies clinging to at least a marginal percentage of air molecules, somehow the smells had ceased to bother Peridot as powerfully as they had her first day in the gym. It was a miracle what habitation could do when one had been going to the gym every night for the past week. One week of pushups and crunches and weight lifting and cardio and everything in between, and Peridot was beginning to realize how much she utterly hated to work out. Every minute was unnecessary agony. Every moment was another moment she could have been comfortable in a pile of blankets, shoulder to shoulder with Lapis beneath the flickering glow of some sappy chick flick playing on the TV. But it was the end of the workout, when she and Jasper sat face to face with the wall-spanning mirror of the locker room, her short-shorts and shirt soaked with sweat and clinging to every last curve and should-be-curve of her body: that was when Peridot could see her pain and torture coming across in physical results. Was it just the light, or had her waistline slimmed? Was that an actual bulge of muscle there at the bicep? Was it even possible for a person’s jawline to seem stronger all of a sudden? For their eyes to seem so suddenly unshakable? For their gaze to seem so utterly confident…?

“You two spend an awful lot of time together, huh..?” Jasper pushed the sensual suggestion through her churlish tone.

Peridot hummed slightly in acknowledgement, thinking back on the past week. Each day, Lapis rolled up to her apartment door sometime in the afternoon. And each time, it was something different that was wrong. _That blood is making you just like the rest of them_! _Tell me: what_ exactly _are you capable of with your so-called “abilities”_? _How the fuck do I know you’re not going to bite me once I let my guard down, huh_!? _Could you at least_ try _to be a little more… normal?_ Peridot knew what was wrong. She _knew_ , deep down, Lapis was worried about Jasper. More specifically, she was worried about Jasper learning of Peridot’s vampire identity. Or, at least, that’s what Peridot _told_ herself this was all about. In all honesty, Peridot wanted more than anything for the whole ordeal to be about Jasper at its core. Because if at its core, Lapis’ concerns were _legitimate_ concerns, and Lapis’ beliefs were _legitimate_ beliefs, and Lapis’ prejudices were _legitimate_ prejudices…

“We’re doing great,” Peridot finally replied, putting a lot more faith behind her words than she felt at all. “We’re just… moving from infatuation to a real committed relationship, you know..? And in that there’s a lot to talk about…”

“Sounds like a big step.” Jasper had, to Peridot’s surprise, stopped her cool-down arm curls to actually pay attention to their conversation. Her eyes gleamed with a second-hand excitement tempered by a mellow flame of concern. “You holding in there alright, champ?”

Peridot looked at her, realizing after a half-second of eye contact that she couldn’t possibly look into Jasper’s uncharacteristically soft expression and keep the walls of her glass façade from shattering. Her eyes turned sharply to look at herself in the mirror, two corpse-like pale eyes staring back.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” It was just as much a legitimate question for the universe as it was an answer to Jasper’s inquiry.

The two weights were set on the floor with soft, twin thumps, Jasper’s figure shifting from the bench to stand beside Peridot, the motion of which Peridot noticed out of focus in the mirror. She hadn’t realized her hands were clasped so desperately together until Jasper reached out a hand to help the smaller of the two off the bench, the acceptance of such as gesture practically requiring a crowbar to get Peridot’s white-knuckled hands apart.

“I’m headed down the block for some post-workout coffee,” Jasper pushed aside the previous subject from where it weighed heavily in the air, eyes racking over the locker room in an attempt to keep them off the clearly attention-adverse Peridot. “Care to join me, Scott Pilgrim? We should have time before Lapis expects us back.”

Peridot shook her head in a subconscious response. “Thanks, but I think I’ll head back. I’ll need every minute I can get to wash all this blood sweat and tears off me.”

Jasper chuckled, heading for the door and checking for the Peridot she knew would be at her heels.  “You sure pushed yourself today. I can honestly say I’m impressed.”

Peridot gave a shrug, though the glow of a proud smile slipped through the gloom. “Well, I mean, I guess I did…” She turned her face to look up at Jasper expectantly. “Same time tomorrow..?”

Jasper smiled knowingly. “You told me you were working tomorrow, runt.”

Peridot blushed. “Oh, right… the day after tomorrow..?”

Jasper shook her head a bit, her cropped mane of hair shifting with the movement. “ _I’m_ working then. But you can come to the gym without me, you know. No memberships needed here.”

“Oh…” Peridot felt her chest tighten at the thought of Jasper’s _work_. “I’ll consider it…”

The two of them exited the gym, pausing a brief minute to take in the night, a surprisingly warm one for the narrowing countdown towards Halloween and November. The air was still a bit nippy for their tank tops and short-shorts, but after the intense routine in the overheated gym, the bite of the chill was welcome.

“You sure about the coffee..?” Jasper’s words ghosted into the air on a puff of hot hair like dragon’s breath, ascending into the night.

Peridot wasn’t sure. Not of anything. “Yeah, you go on ahead.”

Jasper resigned after a minute. “Alright, Dot. See you later. And hey, have fun on that date.”

She crossed her fingers hopefully for Peridot to see as she began down the street, waving as the distance grew between them before she turned to walk face-front. Peridot watched her go a little while longer, the “Wait up!” caught in her throat as she thumbed the cigarettes hidden in the tiny MP3 pocket of her workout shorts.

The night was dark, and the alleys all the darker as Peridot strolled her way down the exhaust-scented backs of buildings, cigarette smoke curling out of her nostrils from the depths of her lungs, raising a powerful chest-seizing cough out of her and consuming her whole existence in the fervent and uneven exhale. Everything about her prickled with an utter existence, from the electrified tips of all the little hairs on her arms to the buzz of synapses deep in her brain. For a moment, all was right in the world, until the thought of the upcoming date and the memory of Lapis’ behavior in the past week all came tumbling to focus once more; the cigarette hit the vampire’s lips for a desperate inhalation.

Three cigarettes in and the walking bit of Peridot's evening became too much, leaving her burning her fourth cigarette down to its butt with frequent drags from where she sat: back to a cold brick wall, shorts marinating in whatever filth painted the asphalt, beat up tennis shoes scraping against the gravel and grit as they fought to maintain traction and keep her bare legs off the ground.

Lapis. The thought of the vampire hunter clung to Peridot’s mind worse than how the bitter ashy taste of smoke clung to the inside of her mouth. She realized that she hadn’t felt so uncertain in a relationship since her fling with Amethyst. Not that Peridot had really been in a _real_ relationship since then—or in all honesty before, either. She questioned Lapis’ intentions. She questioned Lapis’ integrity. Hell, she still questioned whether or not Lapis was going to wind up putting a bullet in her head!! Thoughts of her romantic relationship with Amethyst, no matter how brief, was cause for Peridot to smoke through her fifth and last cigarette in record time, leaving the vampire searching for the money for a new pack and the closest establishment to procure them from.

Needless to say, Peridot was late returning home to the apartment building, and when she finally did so, she smelled as if she had barely escaped the burning remains of a tobacco plantation.

The keys were in hand, the search for the apartment key underway, when Peridot’s apartment door flew open on its own, a severely stormy Lapis looming in the doorway.

“Where were you!?” She snapped ill-temperedly.

“Out,” Peridot replied shortly, though not having the gall to push past Lapis and into her apartment. Instead, she stood there caught between a defensive position and a much more familiar fetal position, fists clenched at her sides but head tucked between two hunched shoulders.

“You were smoking.” Peridot couldn’t tell if Lapis’ tone was upset, shocked, worried, or something far more subtle.

Peridot replied with dead silence, head pounding with an increasing headache that only made her wish for another cigarette sooner.

“Peri…” Soft. Peridot didn’t expect soft. “What’s wrong…?”

She looked up, actually taking a moment to look at Lapis for the first time that night. Blue hair as blue as ever, neat in a sort of effortlessly messy fashion, eyes rimmed with a highly complementary cat’s eye eyeliner and curtained by a sparkling silver eyeshadow, starched white dress shirt perfectly tailored to curl around every edge of her figure, soft and sharp alike, tucked into skin-tight dark-wash jeans, and finished off with a thin cobalt tie that matched her hair perfectly.

It all had Peridot blushing herself into an early grave.

“Peridot…” Lapis’ whole posture had changed in the blink of an eye, the very definition of disarming. “I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have snapped at you… I’m sorry…”

“I—…” The apology was right there, until Peridot withdrew it from the air and let it get lost beneath a sudden and rattling cough. “I need a quick shower…”

It only took the slightest shuffle of an indication towards the door for Lapis to move out of the way, allowing Peridot to brush past and make a beeline for the bathroom, snagging the door handle on her way in and slamming the door shut behind her. Cranking the shower to a screeching wakefulness, Peridot stripped out of her workout clothes and lapsed into another coughing fit, knees buckling and her person kept upright only by the support of the sink counter. After a minute, her lungs quit seizing, and Peridot grabbed a bottle of mouthwash and a bottle of obnoxiously girly-scented body wash from beneath her sink, clutching tightly to both as she stepped into the icy cold spray of the shower. She held the body wash upside-down over her head and squeezed with all her vampire might until the bottle collapsed, succeeding in covering herself in the pink sparkle-flecked gel and spawning a swarm of flowery pink bubbles all around. Nails dug viciously into skin as she tried to scrub every last odorant of cigarette smoke from her being, interrupting the vigorous lathering with bouts of furious mouthwash swishing and gurgling.

When the task of de-smoking herself was all but complete, the troubling memories came tumbling in at full force:

_“I just don’t get it.”_

_Peridot looked to Lapis who sat beside her on the couch, take-out clutched in either of their grasps. “What…?”_

_The statement had come out of the blue, long after their more probing conversation had come to a close._

_“Why won’t you tell me what sort of vampire powers you have?” Lapis’ tone, though marginally calm, came off quite irritated and offended._

_“Why do you need to know?” Peridot couldn’t keep the defensiveness from her tone._

_“I don’t_ need _to know, I_ want _to know!” Lapis huffed, eyeing Peridot impatiently. “It’s like… if I told you what languages I could speak, or what instruments I can play, or what any other cool talents I have! I’d tell you those things; why won’t you tell me about yours?”_

_“Lapis…” Peridot addressed the subject on tip-toes, stomach already tangling up in knots just having to bring it up. “It’s… it’s not the same… it’s more like… Superman telling everyone that Kryptonite is his weakness…”_

_“No..!!” Lapis pushed, confusion and frustration mixing into one. “It’s more like Superman telling everyone he can shoot lasers from his eyes and fly faster than a speeding bullet. Those are his_ abilities _, Peridot. Like you have abilities. That you won’t tell me about for no good reason.”_

_Peridot blurted. “Don’t you think if people knew all of Superman’s powers, all the villains would make their plans Superman-powers-proof…!?”_

_“So, what?” Lapis snorted, trying to sound nonchalant but obsession marring her tone. “You’re afraid I’m going to Peri-proof myself if I knew what you cool stuff you could do? You can’t be serious!”_

_The vampire’s voice raised desperately. “I can!! How can I be sure you’re not going to keep trying to kill me Lapis?! How can I be sure!?”_

_“Fuck you Peri!!” Lapis snapped, on her feet angrily. “I thought we were past this!! We_ were _past thing until you_ drug _it out of its fucking grave!!!”_

_“I was never over it Lapis!!!” Peridot snarled, on her feet in an instant. “How could I be!?!”_

_“Oh yeah!?” Lapis laughed bitterly. “That’s just_ great _Peri!! I’m_ soo _glad to hear our arguments will always end in ‘Well you held a gun on me once!’_ _Fantastic!”_

_“Twice,” Peridot corrected venomously. “Twice, Lapis.”_

_“Really!?” Lapis challenged with a fire blazing in her eyes. “Well do you know how many times a vampire like you has almost_ killed _me, Peridot!? Do you!?!”_

 _Peridot gestured passionately to herself. “But_ I _have_ never _threatened you Lapis!!!”_

_“How can I know you won’t!? Especially with all these secrets you’re keeping from me!”_

_“I’m not keeping secrets, Lapis!!” Peridot’s voice broke as it reached a new level of desperation and volume all at once. “I’m_ literally _telling you whatever you want to know!!”_

_“Except what abilities you have!”_

_“For_ FUCK’S _sake!!! You’re impossible, Lapis!!!”_

Peridot punched the shower wall in frustration—frustration with how she had acted, most of all. The ceramic cracked.

“Peridot??” Concern rang like a bell in Lapis’ voice projecting from behind the bathroom door.

“Sorry…” Peridot replied automatically, though voice strangled by the wave of emotions that came crashing in from her memories of the argument, hand reaching out and switching off the shower water gingerly. “I’m fine, I’m sorry…”

There was a bout of silence again as Peridot stepped from the shower, rapidly forming a puddle of water at her feet as she found a towel on the floor, gave it a quick whiff to determine its cleanliness, and proceeded to use the lime green cloth to sponge her hair dry despite unsatisfactory whiff-results.

Lapis’ voice came quietly from behind the door. “Do you want me to leave…?”

Peridot’s head shot up from beneath the towel in alarm. “Lapis, no, I—!”

“No no,” Lapis corrected quickly. “I mean, do you want me to leave… so you can change..?”

“A-Actually…” Peridot stuttered, quick to wrap herself in the towel and hold the makeshift garment together in a vice as she wrestled the door open and poked her head out into the studio apartment. “I haven’t the faintest idea what to wear…”

Lapis smirked despite herself as she locked eyes with the scantly-clothed vampire. “What you have on will do.”

Peridot rolled her eyes practically out of her skull with maximum mock disdain. “Yeah, only if you’re planning on stripping down to a bra and a pair of underwear…”

Lapis’ face lit up with the most delighted of mischief, hands already tugging her tie loose and fumbling with the buttons on her shirt. “Oh, is that all?”

“Lapis, _please_ …” Peridot groaned pointedly, pushing the bathroom door open further and padding towards the kitchen.

She didn’t get far before a loose tie was thrown over her head and onto her neck like a ring in a ring toss, turning Peridot’s attention back towards the grinning mess that was Lapis and her quarter-of-the-way unbuttoned shirt.

The blue-haired girl laughed to herself. “What are you looking at, Peri Peri Quite Contrary?”

“Oh, that’s clever,” Peridot mocked playfully, knuckles turning white keeping the towel from slipping even an inch from around her chest, more than well aware that the lower edge didn’t have much in the way of leeway when it came to keeping all the important parts covered up. “Think it up all by yourself, did you?”

Lapis smiled again, walking over softly. “I see a shower did wonders for your attitude.”

Peridot couldn’t help but blush as Lapis’ eyes fell to the tie, her slender hands cinching it a little more properly. “Now to do something about _yours_ …”

“Shut up,” Lapis murmured in mock injury, drawing Peridot in by the tie until they were practically chest to chest, voice low on her throat. “You smell nice…”

Peridot gulped, petrified her hands would go all weak and drop the towel to her ankles. “And _you_ look breathtaking…”

Lapis flashed another smile, leaning in and landing a tender kiss on Peridot’s lips that was far too brief for either of them. “Not to steal your thunder as resident buzz-kill, but we ought to get this show on the road if we want to make our reservation…”

Peridot’s eyelids fluttered like a butterfly’s wings. “I’ll drink my daily dose of B-positive…?”

Lapis snuck one more self-indulgent kiss. “And I’ll find you something stunning to wear.”

Eyes following after Lapis as she headed to dig through the train wreck that was the closet, Peridot had to admit for as many issues that had raised their ugly heads in the past week, the good times were the sort of high that was worth a little suffering.

 Or maybe it was the nicotine talking.

Peridot stared blankly into the incandescent glow of the refrigerator, eyeing the next-to-empty half gallon of blood sitting front and center. She snagged the jug absently as her thoughts wandered again, pinning the half gallon between herself and the counter edge so as to unscrew the lid with one hand, leaving the cap to hit the floor as she turned the jug upside-down and gulped the thick crimson substance down.

_“Why human blood?”_

_Peridot flinched, nursing a terrible headache after a long night working at The Ruby and The Sapphire, the majority of which was spent in the bathroom to sneak a quick smoke. However, the efficiency behind a “quick” smoke was lost when she was departing from cleaning tables and washing dishes every fifteen minutes to do so._

_“I don’t know,” She replied bluntly, trying to ignore Lapis’ intense stare by placing the slightly-less-than-full half gallon jug of B-positive blood in the line of sight between the two of them._

_“How can you not know?” Lapis snorted disbelievingly. “How can you be sure you can’t just drink, oh I don’t know, pig’s blood or something?”_

_“I don’t know!” Peridot replied in growing frustration, pouring herself a properly portioned glass of blood, fingers fiddling endlessly to be clutching a cigarette._

_Lapis pushed herself from where she had propped her chin on the back of the couch to talk to Peridot in the kitchen, walking pointedly over to the bar. Peridot moved the blood jug to continue to block her accordingly. Lapis shoved it out of the way vehemently._

_“Peridot.” Lapis eyes were dark, her face twisted with impatience. “This is important.”_

_“So, what!?” Peridot growled, lisping her speech slightly as the anger and the faint refrigerator-tainted scent of blood forced her fangs out. “So vampires can just become another item on a list of pests pig farmers have to look out for in the night!?”_

_“Peridot!!” Lapis chided, voice strained with bafflement and anger. “You_ said _we could talk openly about this stuff!”_

_Peridot pinched tightly to the bridge of her nose, eyes squeezed shut as the thwack of the headache grew ever more intense. “I know.” The apology was left strangled in her throat. “I know…”_

_“So…” Lapis pressed, though she managed to reel in the anger considerably. “How can you know for sure you_ have _to drink human blood?”_

_“Because,” Peridot muttered, stomach tying up in knots. “There was… a movement. A long while ago. Nineteen sixties, I think. My parents were around for it. Vampire culture was starting to become a bit more… transparent. It… was treated more like mental illness than anything else. Vampires were institutionalized, if and when they were found out. Word didn’t get out until much much later, but in some of those institutions… the government paid to conduct experiments. Give this vampire no blood at all. Give this one pig’s blood. This one cow’s blood. This one human blood. You get the picture…”_

_Lapis’ posture had transformed, closed off and something verging on sympathetic. “Peri, I’m sorry…”_

_Peridot shook her head, eyes trained on the bubbles in her glass of blood. “The experiments only confirmed what vampires had known for centuries… it's human blood or bust…”_

_“Or… at least… mostly human blood..?” Lapis ventured carefully._

_Peridot gave a slight nod, poking at her fangs with her tongue. “Yeah. They’ve been tampering with the percentage that last decade or so. There was a time when I was little that my mom had us drinking twice the usual dosage… said they were shortchanging us…”_

“I swear Peridot, half of these clothes can’t possibly be yours…”

Peridot blinked, shaking the memory from her head and the daze from her eyes as she turned her gaze to look to Lapis. She was holding up a sweatshirt. One of _Amethyst’s_ sweatshirts.

“Oh, yeah, well…” Peridot sped over, hand starting to cramp from gripping the towel so long. “They’re a friend's. We’ve had some particularly eventful nights. Her clothes end up at my place, my clothes end up at her place…”

Lapis’ eyebrow shot up. “Little more than friends, eh?”

Peridot turned all shades of indignantly red. “What!? No…! No no….!”

Lapis’ incredulous stare persisted, crumpling Peridot’s posture beneath it.

“Well, we were sort of going out for a while there during the summer…” Peridot’s eyes hit the floor faster than a bystander in a bank robbery. “I-I-It wasn’t a big deal, really…! Super casual, o-or whatever… we’re just friends now, honest…”

“Peridot…”

“I’m sorry, I should’ve told y—”

“Peri, no,” Lapis interjected, voice soft. “Look, I know we’re being all open and honest with each other over the fact that _you’re_ a vampire and I’m a… vampire hunter… but that doesn’t mean we need to tell each other every single thing, at least not at the moment. For instance, I _don’t_ particularly want to know how many girls you’ve fucked within a ten-mile radius…”

“Oh _come_ on..!!” Peridot rolled her eyes, face beginning to resemble a beet. “I haven’t—” She resigned to a simple grumble of embarrassment.

Lapis indulged in a small smile, shoving a few garments Peridot’s way.

“Here. I’ll trade you that tie for jeans, a dress shirt, and a sweater.”

“Deal,” Peridot agreed, loosening the tie from her neck with her free hand and tossing it over Lapis’ head before taking up the pile of clothes under her arm.

“You get dressed, I’ll meet you in the car,” Lapis stated matter-of-factly, giving Peridot one last lingering glance before heading to the door.

“Yeah, I’ll just be a minute,” Peridot nodded, already tossing the clothes onto her bed to get a better look at them. White collared dress shirt with a faint plaid pattern, black sweater with sleeves that tended to swallow Peridot’s hands whole, and old worn in pair of dark jeans… and perhaps she’d put on her white converse to finish things off…

The car ride was intensely silent, with Lapis’ eyes glued to the road for once and Peridot’s eyes shuttering as she followed each lamppost that came and went from view through the passenger side window. Whatever was on Lapis’ mind was certainly a question for the ages, but Peridot knew _she_ herself was caught up in the turmoil of their, so far, short and not-too-awfully-sweet relationship. The words “dating” and “girlfriend” hadn’t been so much as uttered by either of them. The only time pet names came into conversation was when Lapis was either extremely apologetic or unbearably condescending. Even the kissing and the intimate touches were few and far between. Peridot squirmed in her car seat. Technically, she wasn’t even _in_ a relationship, and yet she had hardly ever felt so trapped…

The car slowed and pulled to a curb. Peridot stared out the window at the establishment they had stopped in front of, chest feeling tight as she realized just how far into the upper-class humans-only part of town they had delved.

“Lapis…” Peridot’s voice hiked an octave with concern.

“Don’t worry, I’m paying,” Lapis replied, unbuckling as a valet jogged up to her door.  “Consider it the showiest _I’m sorry_ that I can muster…”

Though Peridot’s concerns ran far deeper than just her wallet, her mouth clamped shut the moment Lapis and the valet exchanged places, struggling with her own door and seatbelt to tumble out to the curb. Lapis was there, bathed in the blue lighting of the restaurant sign, posture a little too stiff, face a little too unreadable. Peridot couldn’t find the time or the attention span to pay the blue-haired girl much attention, far too absorbed in the fact that she, very simply put, shouldn’t be anywhere near where she found herself.

“Peri…” Lapis voice reached the vampire at a rather unconfident volume. “I know I totally fucked up our last date, but…. trust me, just a little..?”

She held out her hand, and beneath the neat cuff of her dress shirt, Peridot couldn’t help but notice the aquamarine beads of the cheap bracelet she had bought for Lapis. The sight of it was enough to quell most of the hum of panic that filled her head, and Peridot reached out and took a hold of Lapis’ hand.

Together, they entered the restaurant.

And it was completely empty.

“I uh, rented the place out for an hour…” Lapis explained hesitantly, free hand fidgeting with her belt loops on her jeans.

“You…” Peridot’s eyes got huge as she processed what she was hearing, staring at Lapis as her jaw hit the floor. “You—…!?”

Lapis gave her the most agonized of look, nodding a little. Peridot blinked rapidly, then bust into the most uncontrollable of laughs, doubling over as tears sprang up in her eyes. Lapis withdrew her hand as if burned.

“I-I-It’s too much, I-I know…” Lapis began to explain, hands balled up in white-knuckled fists as her shoulders climbed to her burning red ears.

“No no…!” Peridot wheezed between laughs, managing to straighten and wipe the tears from her eyes as the giggles still came in waves. “Lapis. This is—…. wow… you seriously—? The whole restaurant..?”

Lapis managed a sheepish smile. “Just for an hour…”

Peridot still couldn’t believe it. She felt like she was stuck in a dream as they sat at the center of the ghost town crowd of white tablecloth-covered tables, still couldn’t quite come to grip with the reality of it all as the food came, and they ate. But despite Peridot’s utter wonder, there was one nightmarish element to the fantasy: Lapis’ utter silence. All through the hour, she watched Peridot like a hawk but didn’t utter a single word. Not until their forks were forgotten and their plates pushed aside.

“Peridot…”

The sound of her voice so sudden after such an extended absence was enough to pop the blonde’s euphoric bubble.

“Yeah..?” Peridot eyed her date with concern, elbows hitting the table as she leaned forward and rested her chin on her fists.

“I—… I want you to have this…” Lapis pulled something from her pocket and set it carefully on the table, hastily sliding it across the spotless tablecloth.

Peridot looked at the gift. It was a cellphone. The newest model of the same line her old phone had been—before the vampire had crushed it into a million pieces, that is.

When Peridot opened her mouth to provide the socially expected amount of thanks, Lapis butt in. “I tried to adjust all the settings so it’s all a bit more… _you_. I already added myself as a contact… I-I would have replaced all your old contacts, but obviously I don’t _know_ them, so…”

“Lapis…” It was Peridot’s turn to butt in. “Thank you. Really, thank you. I-I don’t know what more to say…”

“W-Well that’s not all…” Lapis stuttered as she cut back in to take charge of the conversation, reaching into a different pocket and placing something more on the table, reluctant to move her hand away and reveal said item.

“It’s… a pair of keys..?” Peridot grimaced as the embarrassment of not understanding the gift hit her like a ton of bricks, eyeing Lapis helplessly. To the vampire’s surprise, Lapis looked as though she might be sick, face utterly pale and eyes strangely panicked.

“House keys,” Lapis stated bluntly and breathlessly. “I… bought us a house.”

“You—…?” Peridot felt the shock cold and absolute in her stomach.

“Not a real house. It’s a tiny thing. Right by ESU’s campus. You know, the sort of thing college kids rent for a few years until they graduate…”

Peridot blinked once. “For… us..?”

That was it. Lapis’ voice ran off with her tongue.

“Look, when Jasper finds out about you, about the fact that you’re a vampire—”

“Lapis!!!” Peridot hissed, remembering all too well their current location in the city’s hierarchy.

“ _SHE’LL KILL YOU, PERI!!_ ” Lapis blurted, gripping to the corners of the table as she jolted to her feet, eyes dark. “Maybe the very second she finds out. Maybe not. The point is, she _will_ find out, and when she does, you _can’t_ stay in the apartment. You’ll have to relocate, you’ll have to—”

“Lapis, you’re being ridiculous!!” Peridot snarled, chair flying back as she snapped to her feet angrily. “Not even _you_ can kill me unless I act violently against you!! Jasper’s bound by the same rules!”

“You don’t get it!!!” Lapis growled in frustration. “All this time you’re spending with her, you’re just dooming yourself sooner!”

“Oh, _I_ get it!” Peridot scowled. “You’re jealous as hell that I’m not spending every waking second with _you_.”

“I’m _not_ jealous!!” Lapis fumed, fire burning red hot and furious behind her eyes. “Hang out with Jasper all day every day; see if I care!!”

“No!? Then what’s up with _all_ these great lengths you’re going to, huh!?!” Peridot challenged, gritting her teeth as she gestured to the phone, the keys, the empty restaurant. “All this money and effort, you’re either trying to seduce me or murder me. Which is it Lapis?!”

“ _Fuck you_ , Peri,” Lapis glared, storming for the door.

“Lapis…!” Peridot called tiredly, her anger quickly dying away as Lapis’ figure receded towards the front doors.

There was no use. Lapis was out the door in a heartbeat, jumping into her awaiting Mustang and speeding down the road, engine roar echoing and smoke from her tires billowing up into the night.

Peridot looked helplessly at the table, unable to help but be thankful, despite everything, that Lapis had already paid the bill. The house keys were gone. The phone was not. Peridot picked up the pristine device and turned on the screen, making a beeline for the door as she typed in a phone number by heart.

Ring after dull ring came until Peridot left the restaurant, the line finally clicking live.

“Hello..?” Amethyst sounded bored. Perfect.

“Amethyst, hey. It’s Peri. I got a new phone.”

“What the fuck gives, P!? I haven’t seen you in—”

“Shut up. You know any good supernatural bars of the high end of town..?”

“Yeah, just a few. Not too supernatural-friendly where all the money’s at. Why?”

“Pick one. I need a drink. Or seven. And I’ll happily pay to not have to do it alone.”

“Say no more!” Amethyst laughed in sheer excitement. “There’s a place called Asterisks. Like literally the little star symbol thingy. GPS it. I’ll be there a-sap!”

Peridot clicked the line shut, hunting down the Maps app on her new phone and searching for the bar Amethyst had mentioned. The map disappeared as a call popped up, sending the phone into a buzzing frenzy. Peridot glared at the screen. _Lapis_.

She swiped to reject the call and switched her phone to silent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!!!! I am SOOO SO SORRY it took me so long, but I'm BACK!!! :D :D :D
> 
> Hope you liked the new chapter... there's gonna be more soon (I hope, lol)!! So Stay tuned!! 2017 is gonna be quite a year for the Blood Lust crew!! ;)


	14. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a long night out, Peridot awakens without a single memory of what went down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still editing, yatta yatta yatta :)

 

 

With renewed consciousness came the overwhelming stench of wet dog and cold rain and sex, all intertwined into one singular scent that was utterly familiar to Peridot. She blinked awake, vision bleary and head heavy with morning fog, limbs reaching separately for the four corners of the earth in the most feline of morning stretches, fingers and toes curling as a huge yawn swarmed her lungs with the heavy air. Peridot’s eyes rolled in her sockets as she eyed up the room around her, finding her bearings. She was in a bed cozied up to a little nook in the wall, pressed up againt a window with tangled Venetian blinds stretching from the mattress to the low ceiling, the bed itself a tangled mess of sheets and covers and clothes, bottles of something alcoholic clinked about somewhere in the mess. The rest of the room was in a similar state to the bed, odds and ends painting the floor like a Jackson Pollock painting: shirts, pants, lingerie, take-out menus, polaroids oversaturated from laying in the sun, sweat-soaked tank tops turning rigid as they dried, pizza boxes and Chinese cartons and styrofoam take-out containers and other bits and pieces of trash… Peridot even spotted—well, rather, she _smelled_ and then saw—a couple of bones hiding amongst the normalcy. A painted skull stared across the room at Peridot from its placement on a shelf, flanked by framed pictures of what Peridot could only squint at and hypothesize was a very large family.

The vampire sat upright on the bed, rubbing her head to find her hair sticking up and out at the strangest of bedhead angles. Her clothes reeked of liquor and vomit and cigarette smoke. And, most unsettling of all, straight up sex, all heady and sultry and unbearably arousing. Grumbling threats under her breath, the vampire found her feet quite unsteadily and located the bathroom, going to turn the doorknob and finding it locked.

“Let me in,” Peridot groaned, only a husk of her regular voice left after what she imagined could have only been one hell of a night.

“Just a sec!” An equally as abused voice rasped back from behind the door.

A moment later, the door flew open. Peridot shoved past Amethyst in a towel and doubled over at the toilet, puking out her liquor-soaked insides. Amethyst plopped herself down beside Peri, back resting against the wall of her bathtub-shower combo, petting the vampire’s messy blonde hair in a soothing fashion as Peridot retched in waves. After several minutes, Amethyst let out a gaping yawn, leaning forward and resting her head on Peridot’s hunched back, breathing in deep before letting out a sigh.

“You smell awful, P,” She hummed, patting her back gently.

Peridot spat into the toilet and flushed it, the swirling water a perfect visual representation of how her stomach felt inside her. “What the hell happened last night..?”

Amethyst snorted. “What _didn’t_ happen last night?”

“No, I mean did we—”

“Did we fuck?” Amethyst teased, running her fingers through Peridot’s hair like a comb. “Nah. I had to drag you home, ya know. You were out like a damn light. Thought you were dead for a little while there, P. But I thought: _Nah, she’s a vampire. She’ll just vampire-heal or whatever the fuck_. Even sat you on my bed in the moonlight in case that’d help…”

“You let me drink ‘til I passed out..?” Peri asked, sounding hurt.

“No way!” Amethyst defended, gnawing at her tongue piercing. “We ended up with some buddies of mine. You challenged one to a fight; said you’d been boxing and that you could kick his ass. Yeah, well, he decked you and you hit the ground, out cold. Don’t worry. I beat his ass to a pulp for you afterward.”

“Get off…” Peri commanded half-heartedly as she hoisted herself up off the ground with the toilet’s help.

Amethyst sat back up, getting to her own feet and hugging her towel around her as Peri shuffled gingerly to the mirror, staring at herself. Black eye. Split lip encrusted with nearly-black blood. Gash by her brow that gaped, in need of serious stitches. Pale face looking like someone had tried to contour with blood and applied far too liberally. Her dress shirt might as well have been red-striped.

“Amethyst…” Peri spoke calmly, her voice eerily low.

“What?” The werewolf shrugged defensively. “I thought, ya know, that your vampire healing powers would kick in or something… shouldn’t they..?”

Peri fixed her with the most hellish glare in the mirror. “I don’t _have_ vampire healing powers.”

Amethyst frowned. “You serious? I was talking to some of the Blood Brothers members and they had healing powers—”

“ _That’s because they’re a bunch of blood junkies!!!_ ” Peridot snapped, gripping to the edges of the sink counter like a vice.

“Well jeez, okay, I’m sorry,” Amethyst glared. “Why don’t you get yourself cleaned up a bit, then I’ll help you find something of mine to wear, yeah?”

Without waiting for an answer, the werewolf left the bathroom, shutting the door behind her and leaving Peridot to herself.

As water trickled down the sink drain, stained red as Peridot scrubbed the dried blood from her face, she knew deep down that she had seriously fucked up. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t conjure a single memory from the night. At least, nothing past arriving at Asterisks and meeting up with Amethyst. They took a couple shots. Maybe more than a couple. Amethyst had said _something_ about another bar… everything afterward was one big lapse of memory until she cracked her eyes open just a few minutes back. The only thing Peridot could be certain of was that Amethyst wasn’t giving her the whole truth. And that everything hurt all over.

Catching a whiff of her clothes, Peridot nearly found herself with her face in the toilet again. Alcohol and vomit and intoxicated blood rolled off the trashed shirt and jeans in waves, nauseating the vampire despite her average sensation on account of the daylight.  There was no point of even _trying_ to salvage the clothes, stripping the shirt off over her head and dancing out of her jeans.

“Yo Ames! Do you have any bandages or rubbing alcohol or some shit..!?” Peridot called out as she began searching the cabinets, finding—to no surprise on the vampire’s part—more sex toys than first aid.

“Yeah! I keep them in the kitchen!” Amethyst called back.

“Why the hell would you keep it there..?” Peridot glared in bafflement at Amethyst as she exited the bathroom, wearing only her lime green bra and pink polka-dotted underwear.

Amethyst was texting from where she lounged on her mess of a bed, whistling sarcastically as Peridot walked past. “What? More times than not, if I get injured and need a band-aid, I’m in the kitchen. Just seemed like the most _logical_ place to keep that shit.” She glanced up to watch Peridot rummage in the cabinet in the dollhouse-sized kitchen. “Thought you’d appreciate the _logic_ , ya know…”

Peridot rolled her eyes, finally finding the first-aid supplies in one of the lower cabinets, setting it out on the counter and rummaging for supplies. “You say that like you _weren’t_ the only reason I managed to pass Differential Equations. I’ve got you pegged, A. You’re a fucking nerd.”

Amethyst went back to texting, hiding her shit-eating grin behind the phone. “You’d be surprised how often we werewolves have to call upon our skills in Diffy Q.”

Peridot held an alcohol-soaked cotton ball to her split lip, leaning heavily on the counter as she yawned something awful. “No joke. We vampires end up utilizing our proficiency in rhetorical analysis almost on the daily…”

Her sarcasm was cut short as she moved the cotton ball to the cut on her brow and a sharp jolt of pain zapped through her, fangs snapping out in an instant as a small gasp of shock escaped through them. Amethyst was immediately off her bed, phone abandoned as she padded cautiously towards the kitchen.

“You okay..?”

 “ _Fuck_ …” Peridot breathed in something of a hiss, reflexively hiked shoulders relaxing as the pain subsided while the alcohol went to work on the cut. “Amethyst… please… what the hell happened..?”

Amethyst stood stock still, eyes roving the walls of her apartment. “ _Wellll…_ you’re not gonna like it…”

“Amethyst…”

“I swear I was gone for like, _two_ _seconds_! How was I supposed to know you were gonna up and disappear on me..!?”

“ _Amethyst_ …”

“It wasn’t my place to get involved, I know, but I _swear_ they were cheating or something..! It wasn’t a fair fight...”

“What the _hell_ happened..?” Peridot groaned, rummaging in the fridge and pulling out a can of beer, holding it to her blackening eye.

Amethyst pressed her hands together and let out a sigh. “We ran into this chick, a vampire… she’s part of the Blood Brothers; I’ve talked to her and her friends a bunch since the whole… _conglomeration_ of the Blood Brothers and The Fangs, and, _obviously_ , my joining up. This was _long_ after we left Asterisks, and The Winking Tuna… might’ve been at Mutt and Company, don’t quote me on that…”

“Amethyst, you’re stalling…” Peridot stated flatly, lisping through her fangs as she opened a band-aid. “Let me guess: you and this vampire chick have been… what? Fucking?”

Amethyst snorted, unable to help but grin. “Damn right.”

Peridot fixed Amethyst with a haughty glare. “And—oh, I don’t know—did you happened to introduce me as _‘My Ex, but not by choice,’_ or ‘ _The One That Got Away,_ ’ or how about “ _My girlfriend—no wait, fuck, my friend-friend_ ’…?”

Amethyst looked at Peridot funny. “Has this happened before…?”

Peridot rolled her eyes as pointedly as she could, stalking from the kitchen to Amethyst’s closet to rummage through the thick jungle of clothes available. “How many times do I have to tell you Amethyst… you can’t pit _me_ on your vampire fuck-buddies like a fucking cock fight. I don’t _do_ vampire fights. I don’t _stoop_ to that level.”

“Yeah, clearly,” Amethyst snorted disdainfully as she flopped back onto her bed and scooped up the phone. “If I hadn’t saved your sorry ass—no, I take that back; your _gorgeous_ ass—you’d have been minced Peri in no time.”

“Amethyst, I have a _girlfriend_ ,” Peridot seethed from across the room.

“Really..?” Amethyst asked innocently. “You mean the one you had to go out drowning yourself in liquor to forget? P, you _hate_ liquor. And I’m hardly exaggerating when I say you were _drowning_ in the stuff.” She began texting again, voice quieting as her attention went elsewhere. “Sounds more like a _problem_ than a _girlfriend_ to me…”

“It’s complicated…” Peridot defended bitterly, slipping into Amethyst’s high-school alum sweatshirt which swallowed the vampire whole. She fixed Amethyst with a glare as her head popped through the collar. “Not unlike the shit show we had going on.”

“But less sex?”

Peridot barred her fangs scornfully. “ _Bite me_.”

Amethyst chortled, texting away blissfully. Peridot frowned, eyeing the werewolf untrustingly as she dug out a pair of workout shorts with a functional drawstring, slipping into them and tugging the strings to the max so as to keep them from falling right off her hips; they ended up sitting dangerously low anyways, underwear peaking out just above the waistline. It wasn’t until Peridot left the closet space fully clothed and made her way to the bed did she pick up on a rather glaring detail.

“Hey..!” She frowned a moment before her eyes went huge with shock. “That’s _my_ phone!!”

“Yeah,” Amethyst shrugged, still texting on it. “You kept forgetting it places when we were out last night, so I just… took to babysitting it for you. You’re welcome.”

“Who are you texting!?” Peridot shrieked, trying to snatch the phone out of the werewolf’s hands. Amethyst dodged skillfully. “Amethyst!!!”

Amethyst sprang off the bed, finishing her text and holding the phone up as high as she could, waggling it teasingly with a grin. “Oh, no one, really. Just your blue raspberry plaything!”

“ _Human_ , Amethyst!” Peridot fumed, launching off the bed and stretching on her tiptoes to reach the phone. “She’s a human, _not_ a plaything!!”

Amethyst backed away slowly, keeping the phone just out of reach with each jump Peridot made for it, walking back and back until she ran into the wall, giggling madly. “Why not both? Huh? Or are you hoping that if you mope around long enough I’ll take you back?”

“ _FUCK YOU!!_ ” Peridot snapped, swinging her fist at Amethyst’s face.

The werewolf caught the hand mid-flight, her expression going dark in an instant.

“That was uncalled for,” Amethyst growled in her throat, hand clamping down on Peridot’s fist and causing the vampire to flinch from the pain of her grip. “Don’t tell me you _forgot_ the number one rule, Peri:”

Peridot yanked her fist free, blood boiling and vision red as pinned Amethyst to the wall, only to go sailing backward when Amethyst gave her a shove.

“Sun’s up, P.” Amethyst glared dangerously. “You don’t stand a chance against me.”

Peridot found her footing gingerly, trying to shake the adrenaline from clouding her head. “Just give me the phone…”

Amethyst snarled, baring her two rows of canines, fingernails contorting into claws. “Come and get it.”

Every inch of Peridot was prepared to spring and make good on the taunt, but she held her ground with all the mental strength she could muster. “No…”

Amethyst cocked an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“No…” Peridot dropped her eyes, hugging her arms close to herself and shrinking where she stood. “I… I don’t want to fight you…”

“Don’t, or _can’t_..?” Amethyst goaded.

Peridot’s voice lowered. “Can’t…”

In an instant, Amethyst’s hands returned to their normal humanoid form, tossing the phone at the vampire, who clumsily juggled it into a secure grip. The werewolf stalked past Peridot, purposely jostling the blonde as she headed for the door.

“I’m headed to the gym. Be back later.” The words were bitten out one by one, and no sooner were they spoken that Amethyst disappeared out the door.

The instant the door slammed shut, Peridot turned on her phone to see what sort of damage she needed to amend. It was as she feared. All texts were to Lapis. Pulling up the message feed, Peridot felt her mental health pack up and take a hike, anxiety flaring like a forest fire. Not only had Amethyst been _texting_ Lapis, she had been sending pictures. Of Peridot. _In her underwear_. Cheeks getting hot enough to melt a stick of butter, Peridot called Lapis, pacing madly as the line rang and rang and rang…

“ _WHO THE HELL—!?!”_

Peridot flinched, stammering into the phone. “Lapis! Lapis it’s _me_!!”

“ _Peridot_!? Who the _FUCK_ —”

Nothing caused a withdrawal headache to fester quite like a girlfriend yelling through the phone; Peridot’s head swam with an overwhelming pain.

“Lapis, please calm down… I’m sorry…” Peridot pleaded breathlessly, voice hardly present after yelling at Amethyst all morning.

“Peri, what the hell is going on!?” She sounded angry. Or panicked. Or angry _and_ panicked. The call's connection wasn’t that great… “I’ve been trying to call you all night, and now someone starts texting pictures of you from your phone…!?”

Peridot groaned, flopping back onto Amethyst’s bed. “I know, I’m sorry…”

“I don’t _care_ , Peri!!” Lapis got choked up. “I want to know if you’re okay!”

Peridot hesitated, caught off guard a moment too long. “I’m okay…”

“ _Are_ you…!?”

“I swear, I’m fine…!” Peridot looked around, letting out a sigh. “I’m at my friend’s place…”

“You’re ex’s place…?”

Peridot felt her lungs seize. “Yeah… _b-but nothing happened_..! I swear, Lapis..!”

It was Lapis’ turn to hesitate. “Peri, I-I don’t want you around her… the texta she was sending—… I don’t feel comfortable with you being around her… I don’t think _you_ should feel comfortable being around her either…”

“It’s fine, Lapis, seriously…! She’s an ass, yeah, but she’s all talk..!” Peridot reflected on that assertion, face turning red. “Well, I mean, for the most part…”

“Peridot—”

“Look, Lapis, I’ve been friends with her for… four months, since the breakup. Back when I was on ESU campus for night classes, we would hang out _every_ night of the week! And since the breakup, _nothing has ever happened_..!”

“ _Peridot_ —”

“Lapis, I’ll be _fine_ for the rest of the day. I’ll be at work after sundown, and then I’ll be back in my apartment, okay?”

“ _Peridot!!_ ”

“ _What…!?”_

“I—… I’m worried about you, okay? I couldn't get a hold of you last night… after we fought… do you understand how _panicked_ I was…? _Am_ , for that matter..?”

Peridot frowned, baffled. “Why would you be worried…? I mean, I really wasn’t worried about you…”

The reluctance clung to the silence, the sense of something that perhaps shouldn’t be said humming in the air. Peridot propped herself up on the bed, listening intently to the sound of it.

“Lapis…”

“Look, Peri, last night… I went looking for you… a-and I ended up at the bar, that place you work… The Ruby and The Sapphire..?”

Peridot felt her stomach contort into knots, sitting bolt upright.

“I tried to talk to that stand-offish woman, Pearl or whatever… she mentioned something about you having… a history…? That the cigarettes are only the start of—”

Peridot hung up the phone and threw it away from her, acting as if the conversation had physically made her ill. A quick sprint into the bathroom saw that she _actually_ was, dry heaving until her guts came tumbling out, until the lack of oxygen rendered her unconscious.

“Peridot…! _Jesus_..!! Wake up _dammit_!!”

Consciousness trickled in like sand through an hourglass, bringing to Peridot a renewed sense of her surroundings. The headache that had run rampant before was the entire world, leaving her unable to focus on anything else. She wanted a cigarette. _Needed_ a whole pack, in fact. And a pint of blood. Peridot attempted to ask for such things, but only a raspy groan escaped her.

“Peri!” A voice came all distant and fuzzy, hardly comprehensible through the headache.

The vampire felt herself jostled around, two hands clamped on her arms and giving her a shake. She frowned, straining to pry her eyelids open and blink into the bleary over-lit scene in front of her. There was Amethyst’s face all blurry and rimmed with light, looking as gorgeous as ever and studded with piercings like a constellation of stars. She was swearing in Spanish, a sound so familiar to Peridot she could fall right asleep to the lullaby of the syllables. She _would_ have, if it hadn’t been for the little slaps that came stingingly at her cheek, disturbing her further out of her semi-conscious haze.

“Peri! Hey! Focus!” Her voice was uncharacteristically heavy, marred with concern; _that_ and the slaps had Peridot struggling into full consciousness in no time.

“Stop…” Peridot demanded weakly, swatting clumsily at the hands handling her as roughly as they did.

“P, you were passed out, hunched over the toilet… what the hell…!? Are you alright…?”

Peridot waved a hand dismissively, trying to find her feet amongst the indistinguishable lump of her person and stand up on them. “What time is it…?”

“It’s four…” Amethyst held out her hands to hover beside Peridot as she watched the vampire stand shakily, untrusting of the blonde's balance.

“Four… PM..?” Peridot pressed her hands into her temples and groaned as her headache raged like a jackhammer in her skull, causing her to lose her balance.

Luckily, Amethyst was expecting as much, catching Peridot before the latter fell very far, not hesitating to scoop up the vampire into her arms and carry her bridal style out of the bathroom and onto the bed, hovering over the discombobulated Peridot with worry cinching up her brow, fretting hands working to brush the hair from the blonde’s face as her baby blue eyes blinked in and out of focus.

“What’s wrong? What do you need?” The hostility that Amethyst had packed up and taken with her to the gym ceased to exist the moment she realized Peridot was not okay. “I-I’ve got blood here, O negative… um—… I can call Garnet if you need…? I-I-I know how you feel about hospitals, but better safe than sorry—…”

“Amethyst…” Peridot breathed heavily, pressing her hands back into her temples as hard as she could. “Just some Advil… a-and maybe a cup of that blood…”

The words were no sooner uttered and Amethyst was already in the kitchen. “Like a cup cup? Or, like, a measuring cup cup..?”

“A measuring cup sort of cup…” Peridot answered weakly, trying to wish a box of cigarettes into existence knowing the Advil would do very little for a headache fueled by nicotine withdrawal.

There was a spell of silence that followed as Peridot swam in her misery on the bed and Amethyst trashed the kitchen to get the Advil and the blood as fast as possible, delivering them both to Peridot. Sitting by her head, the werewolf watched her take the pills and drink the blood, a hand absently stroking through the blonde mess of hair in an anxious reflex.

“The fuck happened while I was out…?” Amethyst asked breathlessly, a hint of indignation creeping into her tone.

“Can I borrow your laptop..? I have an online quiz that’s due in an hour…” Peridot deflected easily, having achieved a degree of expertise in the ability from living with Amethyst over the summer.

“Yeah, sure…” The werewolf sighed, defeated, getting up from her bed to fetch the laptop from her desk.

“Hey Amethyst…?” Peridot spoke carefully, on verbal tip-toes as she propped herself up on the bed. “Why do you have blood at your place…? Can’t see it being for _me_ , considering it’s been—what?—four… almost five months..?”

Amethyst snorted in amusement as she unplugged her laptop and carried it over to the bed, setting it in front of Peridot before jumping onto the bed, laying on her stomach. “Of course it’s not for you. Turns out ‘ _I’ve got blood back at my place_ ’ is one sure-fire way to get them Blood Brothers chicks to spend the night with me.”

Peridot sat up on the bed, sitting crisscross-applesauce with the computer in her lap as she logged on to ESU’s website. “You know, giving blood to those maniacs is the same as giving crack to a junkie. It’ll just make them worse.”

“What? Like giving cigarettes to an idiot who only smokes when she’s trying to refrain from taking anything stronger?” Amethyst’s voice was cold as ice, chilling Peridot to the spine. “You were asking for them, last night. At the bar, after you got your ass kicked, every five minutes while I drug your ass back here—”

“It’s not what you think it is!!” Peridot snapped defensively. “I’m stressed, okay!? And I can smoke some damn cigs without—… without—… _relapsing_ or whatever the hell you all seem to think is gonna happen!!!”

“Does Garnet know?”

“ _It’s not your damn place to get all up in my business, Amethyst!!”_ Peridot bit out, eyes blazing with a fury.

“No,” Amethyst replied, mostly calm. “But it _is_ Garnet’s.”

“Amethyst, I’m _trying_ to take a fucking quiz!” Peridot replied sharply, scooting to the far end of the bed to escape her friend just a few extra feet. “Do you mind not _berating_ me in the meantime!?”

Silence followed Peridot’s demand, with the vampire busying herself in schoolwork to ignore the fact that Amethyst was completely right. The werewolf, on the other hand, milled about on the bed a while longer, twiddling her thumbs and picking at her nails before taking a brief trip to the bathroom to fetch a hairbrush and a bottle of hair gel.

“Here. Sit still.” Amethyst sat upon the bed right beside Peridot, working the brush through the blonde hair that had become all snarled after a _long_ night of shenanigans and regret.

“Ow…!” Peridot complained half-heartedly as her head jerked back with each brush stroke despite Amethyst’s attempts to be gentle. “Ames..!”

“Sorry…” Amethyst huffed, working out the worst of the tangles until she could brush through the short blonde hair in smooth, uninterrupted strokes, listening to the sound of Peridot’s furious tapping on the laptop keyboard becoming slowed and quieted as the brushing of her hair lulled her to a state of blissfulness. “Peri…?”

“Yeah…?” Peridot breathed, eyes having fluttered shut, fingers having ceased to type.

“Do me a favor…?”

Peridot sighed, leaning back into Amethyst’s chest as she worked hair gel into her hair. “Yeah…?”

Amethyst sighed heavily, murmuring: “Don’t go back to who you used to be… before me, before you moved out here...”

Peridot tensed. “Amethyst, you know I wouldn’t—”

“Please…” Amethyst’s voice was hardly audible. “Promise me. Please…”

“I—… I promise…” Peridot grumbled, feeling her stomach twist into knots and her chest tighten around her lungs, as the lie slipped through her teeth.


	15. Keep Your Friends Close...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot heads to work after her day at Amethyst's, but it doesn't quite go as expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still doing some editing, but enjoy!! :)

The uncharacteristically warm weather that had pervaded most of October disappeared entirely with the setting sun of that late October day, bringing with it the full chill of a northern autumn and the undercurrents of an early winter already taking a foothold. The nightlife was severely damaged by such a drop in temperature, and those who still ventured out into the early night did so in several layers of thick woolen jackets and jeans. Peridot watched the passersby, with their heads ducked down and their shoulders hunched high against a bitter wind, the vampire dressed in Amethyst’s sweatshirt and her athletic shorts, long since adjusted to the cold as she leaned against the outside of a convenience store and burned through a pack of cigarettes. It took five before she felt something close to relief from the withdrawal. Six burned away far too quickly. She was so close to a buzz on cigarette seven. She still couldn’t quite feel it by the time eight burned to a stub.

It was getting late by the time Peridot pulled the ninth cigarette from the pack, fingering it uncertainly as her lungs burned, starved for oxygen and swimming in smoke. She let out a short cough, which snowballed until she was coughing so violently, nearly hacking up a lung, knees getting weak beneath her as she doubled over. Finally able to take in a breath again, Peridot stuck the cigarette between her teeth and pulled out her cell phone, gnawing gently on the paper wrapping as she dialed a number into her phone, pushing off the wall and making her way into an alley as she listened to the ring.

“You’ve reached The Ruby and The Sapphire, Mystery Girl speaking… how can I help..?”

“Hey Sheena,” Peridot spoke, coughing away from the phone’s speaker. “Listen, so, I didn’t actually make it home last night, so, I uh, don’t have my uniform…”

Sheena chuckled. “Fun-size, you lucky bastard. You’ll never guess who brought in a spare uniform today.”

Peridot blinked in surprise, stopping in her tracks. “What..? Seriously…??? Who..??”

“Your best buddy, Pearl.” Sheena’s grin could practically be heard in the silence.

“Aw jeez…” Peridot sighed, clamping down on her unlit cigarette. “How in the hell—?”

“You’ll have to talk to _her_ about that, once you get your ass over here,” Sheena threatened lightly. “You’re already late.”

“I’m like five minutes out,” Peridot replied, fishing a lighter from her pocket as she rolled up to the back door of The Ruby and The Sapphire. “Be there shortly!”

“ _Shortly_ , good one!” Sheena chuckled; Peridot rolled her eyes and lit up her cigarette. “Alright. See you then.”

The line clicked dead as Peridot inhaled off her ninth smoke of the night, checking the time as she slipped the phone back into the waistband of her shorts. She had five minutes to get what she could out of the gnawed-on cigarette. She inhaled deeper, exhaling a cloud of formless smoke in an impatient huff before wasting no time on the inhale again. The smoke came out in strangled coughs before long, but it didn’t slow her eagerness for the drag.

Five minutes later, the butt of the cigarette got ground into the gravel, and Peridot slipped through the back door of the bar.

“Oh, hey Peridot!” Sadie smiled all friendly from where she was washing dishes, looking as bone-tried as she always did.

“Sadie,” Peridot greeted in pleasant surprise. “You’re here late…?”

 Sadie rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Yeah, well, Lars asked me to cover him tonight, said he had important vampire business or something… n-not that I mind or anything, i-i-it’s only a few more hours…”

“Remind me to kick Lars’ balls into his throat next time I see him,” Peridot sighed in loathing, finding a freshly laundered uniform hanging up on the coat rack with a little sticky note attached.

She took the uniform from the hook, eyeing the note scrawled in Pearl’s perfect cursive letters: _Call your girlfriend_. Rolling her eyes, Peridot headed out into the bar and made a beeline for the bathrooms, not quite fast enough to avoid Pearl’s attention.

“Ah, Peridot! There you are!” The lithe woman sang out, voice all sorts of patronizing.

Peridot froze, turning around on the heel of her left foot and smiling all sickly sweet. “Pearl! Hi!”

Pearl walked over, the smug look on her face and the arms tucked behind her back suggesting that the woman knew something Peridot would have preferred she didn’t, the mere posture of her boss turning the vampire’s false expression sour.

“How was your night last night..?” Pearl inquired innocently from where she stood head and shoulders over Peridot.

“Peachy,” Peridot spoke through her teeth.

Pearl’s eyes fell on her, casting a look of pure impishness. “Am I to assume Amethyst got you home safely..?”

Peridot’s hand darted unconsciously to the band-aids speckling her face before zipping back to her side. “More or less. How’d you know—?”

Pearl rolled her eyes, tsking. “Who _else_ would you be out avoiding your responsibilities with?”

Peridot glared fiercely. “Any one of my friends!!”

Pearl smiled icily. “ _Friends_? Are we using the plural now? How nice.”

The bar owner cut the vampire off with a concise motion of her hand. “The woman with the blue hair… what’s her name?”

Peridot hesitated tensely. “Lapis.”

“Are you two—?”

“Yeah, no… I don’t really know…” Peridot dropped her eyes, face turning hot.

Pearl smiled knowingly. “She seemed real nice.” She shrugged. “A bit pushy, if you ask me. Not the _politest_ , but still…”

“ _Sooo_ glad to have your approval, Pearl,” Peridot drawled sarcastically, edging towards the bathroom. “Now, if you’re quite finished…”

Pearl waved her along. “Be quick about it. We open again in ten.”

It was a Monday, a fact Peridot took a very long time coming to grasp as she struggled into a pair of grey dress pants and fastened the buttons on a black dress shirt. Mondays were just as slow as Sundays, in some regards. Fewer college kids, but more of those sad adults who need a stiff drink to recover after a long day in the office or wherever their personal hell was located.

The evening drug by in something of a haze for everyone, not just Peridot. The customers rolled in in a painfully slow trickle, always too many to warrant fooling around but too few to actually keep anyone busy. It was the perfect number to allow the vampire her frequent smoke breaks in the bathroom, slipping away for five minutes to burn through a cigarette before checking up on her tables.

The night came to a soft close, Pearl having gone home hours ago, Sadie half asleep at the bar as she cleaned the bar top in sleepy little circles, Sheena counting the cash and coins in the register, and Peridot mopping stripes of soapy water across the dining room floor half-heartedly. The vampire had changed out of her borrowed uniform and back into Amethyst’s clothes, a move Sheena approved of when it seemed certain the night would be a slow one. The hour of close ticked onto the clock, and after an exchange of eye contact with Sheena, Peridot dragged her mop to the front door and flipped the sign and turning the padlock. Sheena gently roused Sadie from where she had begun a full on nap at the bar, sending the exhausted girl home. Peridot kept up her mopping, head down and fingers digging painfully into the mop handle as her whole body cried out for a smoke.

“Peridot,” Sheena’s voice called out quietly into the silent establishment. “Can I talk to you for a sec..?”

An anxious chill shuddered up the vampire’s spine as she nodded, leaving her mop to meet the pink haired biker in the back room. Sheena was waiting, face pained and arms crossed.

“What’s up…?” Peridot gulped, voice strangled.

“Look,” Sheena sighed, arms crossing tighter as she sought the right words. “Peri, I have to let you go.”

Peridot froze, eyes wide in terror. “What…?!”

“It’s not permanent,” Sheena amended bluntly, gesturing helplessly. “Or at least, I hope it doesn’t have to be. But you need to get help first. You need to talk to Garnet. Kick this smoking habit before it builds into something… worse.”

“Sheena, I’m not—! I _swear_ , it’s _just stress_ …!”

Sheena waved gently for silence. “If that’s the case, great! Talk to Garnet, manage this stress, quit the smoking. Then you’re back on the schedule, alright? But I need you to involve your therapist, okay?”

“Sheena—!”

The bar owner fixed Peridot with a no-nonsense glare. “Garnet called Pearl a few days ago. Said you missed an appointment with her, your bi-weekly appointment. It was _Pearl’s_ idea to give you some leeway, see if you wouldn’t reschedule on your own. And we _both_ agreed that if you didn’t take the incentive, we were going to give you one hell of a reason to get better.”

Peridot was a ball of panic, an avalanche of financial problems burying her mind, voice little more than a sob. “Please… _don’t_ …”

Sheena’s eyes burned with a pain as she stared down the vampire. “Peridot, you’re fired. Go home.”

Peridot retreated out the back door, feeling an utter detachment from reality as he stepped into the back alley and blinked into the night, the door shutting and locking behind her. _How am I gonna pay the rent?_ She began slowly down the street. _How am I gonna pay for food?_ She walked until she came to the main road, streetlamps glowing and cars zipping around on the road. _How am I gonna pay for blood_? No, that wasn’t an issue. Lapis had been buying blood _for_ her.

_Lapis._

Peridot pulled out her phone, dialing Lapis’ number and calling it. It rang all but once before Lapis answered, voice all levels of relieved and concerned all at once.

“Peri..?”

“Hey…” She replied, still numb, still trying to come back to reality.

“Is everything okay…??” Of _course_ Lapis picked up on the uncharacteristic tone.

“Yeah,” Peridot answered, shaking herself a bit and forcing a cheerier inflection. “Yeah, sorry. I’m just pretty tired…”

“Makes sense…” Lapis snorted a bit bitterly. Peridot cringed a tad.

“Hey, listen, so my boss needs me to stay a little bit later. We got slammed tonight and the other girl on staff got sick and had to go home early…”

“Oh, alright. No problem..! Just be safe walking home, okay..? Don’t want you getting jumped by vampires.” The humor was subtle, but Peridot heard it loud and clear.

She rolled her eyes. “Heaven forbid.”

Lapis laughed lightly on the other end. Peridot listened to the sound, suddenly devastated in all sense of the word.

“Alright, I gotta go…” She breathed.

“See you soon, Peri,” Lapis cheered softly.

“You too…. Bye…” She clicked the _End Call_ button quickly.

As Peridot stood there on the all-but-abandoned sidewalk, trying to decide what she was feeling, all she was sure of is that she felt entirely numb. Maybe it was the freezing cold, or maybe it was the shock of getting fired so unexpectedly, but whatever the cause, Peridot knew one thing for certain: she couldn’t tell Lapis. Not yet. She could handle this, do damage control, do _anything_ she needed to keep Lapis from finding out.

Her feet began to wander, carrying her down the sidewalk, mind swarming with a million _what-ifs_ that bred a crippling sense of anxiety. Peridot concocted a plan B, then a plan C, and before long had an entire alphabet of plans depending on the set of _what-ifs_ that might come to fruition. It was all extraordinarily stressful, the fears and worries like screaming voices filling up her ears. She needed to blow off some steam.

She took a right at the next street.

Still not knowing if she was sad, angry, scared, or what, Peridot was coming to realize she was becoming unhinged. Her job at The Ruby and The Sapphire was her one occupation. With her earnings from the bar and her checks from the Supernatural Scholarship, Peridot was still hardly able to make ends meet. She hadn’t paid for hot water in months. She hardly paid for food. Her splurge at the bars with Amethyst already had her deep in the red. Peridot was counting on picking up extra shifts at work to have just enough money—down to the very last penny—to pay for rent. That wasn’t even counting utilities. But she could last a week without utilities—probably even two—before it became a serious issue, giving her precious extra time to find the money for _that_ bill. With only a half-week paycheck due to roll in on Sunday, Peridot was, in short, screwed financially. Even if she went and saw Garnet immediately and convinced her to let her back at the bar, the damage would be done. The best Peridot could do was enjoy her last few days before Ms. White came calling all concerned about Peridot’s ability to pay her rent. The confounded woman seemed to know everything about everyone, as well as the minute anything changed. It was quite terrifying, really.

Peridot took in her surroundings, realizing she was only as few doors down from her destination: the gym. She still wasn’t sure if she was angry, sad, scared, what-have-you, but she was certain punching a giant bag of sand would help her feel marginally better. She made her way down to the gym doors, renting out her boxing equipment in a haze and finding herself at the bags the very next moment she came back to reality.

There was very little restraint in the punches Peridot threw, each hitting the bag with jarring intensity and emitting a resounding _smack_ off the leather. She threw the punches one by one, slowly, focusing on her form. But it hardly took long for the adrenaline to flood her veins, for the anger to boil furiously in her head. The punches came faster, harder, sloppy and painful, building her anger and frustration to a crescendo. She threw a one-two combo into the bag with her full strength, sending the several-hundred-pound bag flying off its snapped metal chains, hitting the far wall with the deafening _whump_ before dropping to the ground on its side, sand spilling out a hole punched into the leather. Peridot just stared without even the slightest hint of surprise, chest heaving and arms held limp and sore at her sides, fangs showing as she panted open-mouth, sweat dripping off her forehead and glasses fogging up just a tad.

“Woah…”

Peridot glanced towards the direction of the utterance, spotting two guys working out a short distance away on the benches. They were staring, one at the punching bag and the other at her. The attention sent a jolt of fear up Peridot’s spine, and in the blink of an eye, she was gathering her things, hurrying for the desk to return her equipment.

The street wasn’t quiet enough, private enough. Peridot retreated into the alleys as she pressed towards the harbor and deeper into the supernatural side of town. She could smell the pheromones rolling off of herself in waves, a stinging mix of hostility and fear. She quickened her pace, head down, lungs burning from the lack of oxygen and the bite of the nippy air. Instincts snapped her head back up, Peridot sensing the vampires before she caught sight of their glowing eyes reflecting the stray moonlight like a congregation of feral cats. She barred her fangs, trying to drown out the scent of her fear in her own hostility.

One of the vampires stepped forward to pursue Peridot as she passed. Two others held him back in their wiser judgment.

She emerged from the system of alleys onto the torn up road that ran past the harbor, bordered by a small wall. Peridot scaled the wall with an ease garnered from practice, dropping down to the ground on the opposite side. There was a hill, steep and patchy with resilient vegetation, a minimal stretch of ground before the drop into the rocky bed of the harbor, sloshing angrily in the wind and turning the surrounding air frigid from its colder-still waters. Peridot found her balance on the slope, sitting herself down with her back pressed against the wall. An old pack of cigarettes sat all damp and dirty beside her designated hiding spot. The vampire wasted no time in lighting one up and smoking it slow, eyes fixed on the movement of the harbor below, ears tuned into the quiet white-noise hiss of the waves as they slinked up the rocky bank and withdrew back into themselves in an endless cycle. The city was quiet and distant, even to Peridot’s heightened senses. Her problems seemed to recede into the same distant place as the calming water and the nicotine worked to put her mind back at some semblance of ease.

A half an hour passed by slowly and serenely, to the point of lulling the sleep-deprived Peridot into a shallow type of slumber, head resting back against the wall, arms tucked between her curled up legs, third cigarette curling smoke lazily into the night in the embrace of two limp fingers. When she awoke, it was organically, eyes blinking heavily into the inky abyss of the night sky, limbs extremely stiff from the nap in the freezing cold, cigarette long burned out, mouth tasting and feeling like an ashtray. A soft, tired groan escaped Peridot as she stretched, blinking harder to rid the sleep from her eyes. Her hand sought out the phone in her pocket, turning on the screen and squinting at the display: 5:48 AM, three missed calls from Lapis, and an unread text message from Lapis. Guilt weighed like a shotput in Peridot’s chest as she hurried to unlock her phone and check the text, having to read it several times over before the words finally took meaning and registered in her mind: _Hey, when you get this, stop by my place. It’s kind of important…_ Sent at 3:57 AM.

Immediately, Peridot was scrambling to her feet, finding her bearings sluggishly as she performed a graceless climb over the wall and back onto the street, taking a moment to get a sense of direction before rushing down the street towards her apartment building. It was a long walk, close to an hour of strenuously long and hurried strides before she finally arrived at the apartment, breathlessly entering the stairwell and forcing lactic-acid-filled legs up the three flights of stairs. Despite wanting to curl up and die once reaching the third floor, Peridot pressed on, dreading Lapis’ disapproval more than a heart attack at that moment. Stumbling down the hall, lungs inflating and deflating with a starved intensity, she managed to end up at Jasper and Lapis’ apartment door, knocking as she doubled over, supporting herself on her legs while she tried to catch her breath to no avail.

“It’s open!” Jasper’s voice called faintly from somewhere inside the apartment.

Straightening up, Peridot turned the handle of the apartment door, pushing it open and stepping inside. She was no sooner inside, shutting the door behind her, and she already felt exhausted. It had to be the state of the apartment: books were everywhere, covering every surface around the living room couch including the entirety of the living room floor; papers sat on the books, home-printed texts accompanying the bound ones; the air was electric with a scent that was more like an energy than anything else, sending Peridot’s mind directly back to her childhood, to her parents’ obsession with the alchemical arts. The shower had been running briefly, shut off the moment the vampire had closed the door. The door to Lapis’ room opened, revealing a rather sleep-deprived looking Lapis in an oversized pair of Jasper’s sweatpants and a crop top, messy hair kept out of the way by a simple black beanie, hands stained with the tell-tale char of an alchemical experiment gone awry.

“Peri, hey!” She sounded surprised, though not unpleasantly so.

“Hey,” Peridot replied with a lopsided smile, flooded with a sudden emotional bliss from getting to see Lapis after nearly two full days apart; the circumstance of their last encounter didn’t weigh on her mind in the slightest... or at least not in the present moment.

Lapis walked over, wrapping her arms around the vampire in a loose hug and resting her chin in the mess of blonde hair, voice thick and raspy from having just woken up. “They kept you awfully late at that bar…”

“Yeah…” A wave of worry washed all sobering over the momentarily giddy Peridot. “Yeah, they did… sorry to keep you waiting…”

Lapis laughed through her nose, breathing in deep as she yawned. “Waiting..? You weren’t planning to woo me tonight, were you..? I’m a bit worn out…”

Peridot creased her brow in bafflement. “No, you—… you texted me, asking me to come over here ASAP..?”

Lapis pulled away, looking at Peridot with a sleepy frown. “No I didn’t…”

Peridot pulled out her phone, fingers working clumsily to pull up the text, handing the device to Lapis. The blue-haired hunter stared at the screen a long moment, almost instantly more awake and more than concerned.

“I didn’t—…” She looked at Peridot, then back at the screen, then back to Peridot. “I didn’t send that…”

“Yeah, sorry, that was me.”

Jasper emerged from the bathroom, dressed in a pair of black athletic shorts and a black tank top, ruffling her hair dry beneath a towel, which was tossed back into the bathroom a moment later. Jasper took a turn and walked into the small kitchen, an island with barstools coming between the were-hunter and Peridot and Lapis in the small entryway jutting up to the kitchen.

“Jasper, when the _hell_ did you steal my phone?” Lapis fumed, eyes blazing at her roommate.

“When you were busy fucking around, obviously,” Jasper rolled her eyes, grabbing a mug from one of the cabinets and setting it down on the island counter before fishing the phone from her pocket. “Here. Catch.”

The phone went flying through the air towards Lapis, who put up her hand and caught it without so much as taking her eyes off of Jasper, anger and suspicion running high. Peridot blinked heavily, exhaustion weighing heavier and heavier with each passing minute.  

“Jasper, what’s going on?” Lapis demanded, trying to be calm but failing miserably.

Jasper ignored her, instead taking the kettle from off the stovetop and pouring the mildly hot water into her mug. “Hey runt, I’m making tea; you want some..?”

“Sure,” Peridot shrugged, padding over to the kitchen to join Jasper as the body builder took down another mug for the vampire. Lapis followed after Peridot, everything about her body language screaming of unease.

Jasper pulled out a box of assorted teas from one of the drawers on the island cabinets, setting it between her and Peridot. She picked out a jasmine green tea, taking the bag from the wrapper and steeping it in her mug as Peridot fished through her options.

“Jasper, _answer me_ ,” Lapis growled angrily, standing on the edge of the kitchen with arms crossed.

Without taking her eyes off her mug of tea, Jasper replied: “Well, you see Lazuli, I was going over the bank statements. The Malachite bank statements.”

Peridot looked to Lapis. “What’s Malachite?”

Lapis nodded at Jasper impatiently. “ _We_ are.”

“Huh..?” Before Peridot could get a better answer, Jasper was talking again.

“You know, checking all the usual stuff. Paychecks for the month, what kind of transactions ended up getting charged to the Malachite funds, if anything looked suspicious or out of the ordinary… and you’ll never guess what I found…” Jasper looked up, fixing Lapis with the most infuriated, cold-blooded stare. “Someone was buying an awful lot of blood for only bringing in four paychecks this month.”

Peridot looked to Lapis, feeling a rush of fear as she found her lover having turned the most terrified shade of white, eyes huge with guilt and horror.

“Lapis—?”

Peridot’s words were cut short as something constricted around her throat and lifted her right off her feet, slamming her into the wall a split second later. Peridot stared in wide-eyed terror as Jasper held her to the wall by her throat, clamping down on her windpipe just so to make breathing a struggle but not to strangle completely.

“ _JASPER LET HER GO!!_ ” Lapis yelled, taking a few quick steps towards Jasper but stopping herself uncertainly.

Peridot wasn’t too worried, despite appearances. She knew her own strength, and she knew even a woman like Jasper was no match for her if she could keep her head on straight. She clasped onto Jasper’s hand with both her own, shoving with every last ounce of her might.

And nothing happened. In fact, Jasper gripped down harder, cutting off Peridot’s supply of air.

“Do you take me to be some kind of idiot, mutant?” Jasper snarled in malicious enjoyment, eyes blazing with a controlled insanity. “You think I wouldn’t take precautions to keep you at your weakest?”

“Jasper, let her go!! She’s _not_ a vampire..!!” Lapis cried, absolutely pleading.

“Don’t think do?” Jasper teased, a twisted smile coming to her face. “Watch this.”

Jasper adjusted her grip on Peridot’s throat, shifting so the heel of her hand still pressed down on the vampire’s windpipe while her fingers squeezed Peridot’s jaw until it was forced to open. Peridot gasped desperately for air, but not a single molecule of oxygen managed to reach her lungs. She kicked wildly and pulled desperately at Jasper’s hand, but nothing improved her situation.

“ _JASPER_!!!” Lapis screamed, darting to reach Peridot but getting held back by Jasper’s free hand.

“ _Watch_ ,” Jasper instructed harshly, turning her attention back to Peridot.

The blonde was beginning to black out, vision fading at the edges, legs kicking weakly, hands hardly grasping any longer. And then all of a sudden, Jasper let her go entirely, the vampire hitting the floor and collapsing to all fours, gasping raggedly and coughing violently. Without warning, Peridot lunged at Jasper, fight-or-flight adrenaline rushing into her veins, fangs out instinctually. But the were-hunter was expecting just as much. She had Peridot back against the wall, hand pressing down on her throat once more, in the blink of an eye.

“Fangs,” Jasper announced triumphantly, turning a ridiculing gaze towards Lapis. “You of all people should’ve had her figured out by now.” The look turned to one of disgust. “Or more likely, you already knew, and you had the _audacity_ to support this mutants’ sick habits.”

Jasper turned to gaze to Peridot, a wicked smile on her face once more. “You want to know how I did it? You want to know how I zapped your precious little powers?” She chuckled lowly, easing up on the windpipe just a tad as Peridot’s eyes began to roll back again, the vampire managing a strangled breath. “UV lights. I changed every last damn light in this place with one. Might as well be the middle kf the day with that kind of exposure.”

“Lapis…!” Peridot wheezed, grimacing from the sheer effort it took to speak. “Run…!”

Lapis looked at her frantically, then lunged for one of the kitchen drawers, snagging a pistol from the drawer and aiming it at Jasper’s head as she cocked it.

“Jasper,” Lapis spat venomously. “ _Let. Her. GO_.”

“Lazuli, you’re out of your damn mind,” Jasper spoke firmly, eyes still training on Peridot as she began to suffocate her again, pressing down with all her strength to speed up the process. “You’ll thank me later.”

Peridot could feel everything slipping away again, body already feeling numb and oddly tingly as it was slowly starved of oxygen. She shut her eyes tight, feeling light-headed in the absolute worst way as her lungs burned like twin fires in her chest. The last thing she could remember was the faint sound of gunfire as everything slipped back into the cold, silent darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!! Hope you enjoyed the new chapter!! :D
> 
> Just a quick FYI, college has me a bit swamped this month (February), so I may not be able to get chapters written as often as I'd like. But I'll still be working on them as often as I can, so don't fret there! We're not going to have another Christmas hiatus! '^^


	16. Insecurities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot wakes up someplace utterly unfamiliar...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still editing, btw! :)

There was a moment, though short-lived, were everything was serene. The soft hum of infrequent and distant traffic painted the silence with delicate sound. The faint gossiping of robins and chickadees and cardinals drifted softly on the breeze. Occasionally, an orchestra of creaks and groans sighed from restless floorboards and tired walls. Amidst the peace, Peridot blinked lazily awake. Her bleary vision came to rest on a flock of dust particles dancing in a sunset-tinted beam of light, framed by the lace-like patterns of the plaster ceiling.  A smile ghosted onto her face, eyes drooping heavily her mind drifted back to the realm of slumber. Dozing as she was, an intangible thought kept her from falling asleep, trying desperately to recall what it was that bothered her so.

Oh yeah. Jasper.

Peridot shifted her elbows back and pushed herself upright, fingers pawing at her eyes as she blinked her surroundings into focus. Her person seemed… okay? Everything was a tad sore; her neck felt as if she survived an old fashioned hanging, and her throat went tight and dry, but it wasn’t the end of the world. Not daring to budge her neck even a hairsbreadth, Peridot shifted her eyes left and right to take in her surroundings hastily, not gathering much. Forcing herself to take the time and look at the scene bit by bit, Peridot was slowly coming to the startling conclusion that nothing was familiar. The room around her was definitely… a living room, based on the minimal but telling furniture present. But in itself, the room was much larger than what Peridot was used to; the entirety of her studio apartment had been perhaps a tad larger. Within the room, Peridot found herself awakening on a couch, the sort with a firmness to the cushion and a boldness to the color choice hinting to a particular Swedish furniture store. Looking from the couch to herself, she discovered her body, smothered in a thick layer of blankets that may have once been neat and tidy but had since become little more than a heap, half drooping to the floor. Looking at the blankets, Peridot felt an overwhelming sense of overheating, kicking briskly to rid herself of the stuffy confines of the fabrics, shivering a bit as the brisk room air met her skin.

The thought of Lapis popped into her sleep-bogged brain like a lightning bolt, and in an instant Peridot was sitting upright, propped against the arm of the couch, whole body coiled like a spring, finding herself more and more tensed the more she went to move about. Memories came flooding in: Jasper, here ridiculously strong hand clamped on Peridot’s throat, Lapis yelling, the gunshot… everything afterward was lost to the void of unconsciousness. One second she had been suffocating in Lapis’ apartment at the hands of a supposed friend, and the next she was here, wherever _here_ was exactly. And Lapis was nowhere to be found.

“Lapis…?” What was supposed to be a resounding call came out as little more than a strangled tendril of breath that carried a peculiar resemblance to the blue-haired woman’s name.

Despite the frailty of the summon, Lapis came zipping into the living room out of nowhere within a few seconds of Peridot’s utterance, face looking as exhausted as a college student with three jobs, expression extraordinarily stormy and unbelievably shocked.

“Peridot _fucking_ Quin!!” The words were barked out in a mix of frustration and relief and disbelief all rolled into one spine-jarring cocktail of an emotional outburst, Lapis storming over to the couch where the vampire sat paralyzed in surprise.

Peridot opened her mouth as her brain scrambled for an excuse, but the second Lapis came to a grinding halt in front of the couch and threw up an interjecting finger of pointedness, the mouth clamped shut once more.

“First of _all_ ,” Lapis raged, body language screaming indignant. “I thought you were _fucking_ dead and I have _no fucking idea_ how you’re awake. But I am happy about it. _Understand_!? I’m fucking overjoyed!!”

Peridot blinked rapidly, curling up into herself.

“ _Second_!!” Lapis threw up two fingers to replace the single bossy one. “You have some _major_ fucking explaining to do on whatever sort of _stunt_ you pulled here, missy! You’re _damn well_ lucky I’m not some Romeo-ass fool, stabbing myself within the minute I find my Juliet’s lifeless body!! Because, _newsflash, Peri!!_ Based on all vital signs and WebMD cross-referencing, _YOU WERE DEAD_!! For _three whole fucking days_!!”

Peridot’s face scrunched into something of disbelief and awe.

“Third,” Lapis sighed heavily, rage-fueled energy petering out and leaving her looking scared and relieved, body language slumping ever so slightly, hand dropping away from where she had held it out emphatically. “You really fucking scared me, Peri… don’t do this to me again…”

The vampire felt her chest tighten unbearably at the dejected, frighten sight of Lapis, voice coming out as little more than a wheeze. “Lapis…”

Lapis ignored her, plopping herself down on the couch beside where Peridot had curled herself up onto a single couch cushion, the vampire hunter staring distractedly at the hands in her own lap, a sigh heaving itself exhaustively from her lungs as if carrying her last bit of fight in the exhale. The sight of her there, blue hair distraught and falling in her dark-rimmed eyes, cheeks still flushed from her bout of yelling, lips all soft and pouty as she pursed them unconsciously…

Peridot pushed off the arm of the couch and embraced Lapis in a tight, comforting hug, lips meeting lips as Peridot shut her eyes beneath her already askew glasses. The muffled sound of Lapis’ surprise sounded quietly in the space between the two of them, no sooner having escaped before Lapis was fully engaged in the kiss, wasting no time at all in pinning Peridot back against the armrest. The kiss had hardly begun and the vampire was already rushing a clumsy step ahead, hands inching up beneath Lapis’ loose t-shirt and nails raking skin. One of Lapis’ hand was ensnared in a familiar patch of blonde hair at the base of Peridot’s skull, gentle tugging tilting her head back and giving Lapis better access to all the nooks and cranny’s of the mouth her tongue hungered to explore. It was a tad painful, seeing as the vampire’s neck was rather bruised from Jasper’s choking vice, but Lapis seemed to have found the perfect angle from which she didn’t want Peridot budging another inch. Peridot lost herself in the overwhelming persistence of the kiss, Lapis seeming to hold back nothing as she deepened it shamelessly. Peridot would have been entirely lost in the moment if her exploring hands didn’t encounter the fabric of Lapis’ bra, the realization of how far she had felt Lapis up jostling the vampire, to say the least. Lapis, as keen as ever, pulled back from the kiss just enough to smirk, the sort of expression that left Peridot blushing bright red and squirming, suddenly even more aware of the fact that Lapis was practically on top of her, a knee resting dangerously far up between Peridot’s legs, the very heat of her body so entirely proximal eliciting goosebumps all over the vampire’s body.

“What the matter?” Lapis teased, voice little more than a purr as her eyes raked shamelessly over all her favorite spots to pay attention to… Peridot’s lips, jaw, ears, neck, collarbones… “Feeling a little shy, babe..?”

If Peridot’s voice had been weak before, it was all but nonexistent now, no room for even the smallest sound to escape around the lump she swallowed in her throat.

Lapis tweaked an eyebrow. “Would _this_ help…?”

She sat back onto her ankles, grabbing the hem of her shirt with two hands and stripping it over her head with flawless ease. Peridot absolutely gawked, something the vampire wasn’t entirely aware of until she saw the shit-eating grin on Lapis’ face.

Then all too suddenly, the sight of Lapis poised on top of her with such a smug expression called up jarring memories of the night Lapis had come within a mere trigger-pull of murdering Peridot, the blonde’s expression of glossy admiration contorting to one of stark fear, her eyes dropping away as her face burned intensely red, heart starting to pound in her ears. Peridot shut her eyes, trying to shake the paralyzing memory, but it refused to disappear. Lapis watched the change happen observantly, taking note of the situation and making an educated guess about what was going through the vampire’s head.

“Ah,” She said softly, shifting off of Peridot and laying down on the couch beside her, planting a chaste kiss onto the vampire’s brow before they both stared at the ceiling. “Sorry… is… is this okay..?”

Peridot shut her eyes, whole face burning from the embarrassment of essentially ruining the moment, shoulders hiked to her shoulders tensely. One of Lapis’ fingers traced little patterns on the exposed skin of the vampire’s arms, breath reaching Peridot’s neck all warm and even.

“Yeah,” She managed to rasp, voice breaking as the scene of Lapis with her gun played out unwantedly behind her eyelids. “This is perfect…”

It lasted for a while, the quiet side by side cuddling on the couch. Peridot was fairly sure that Lapis dozed off at some point, her breathing slowing and steadying, her heartbeat almost tangible from her proximity. Peridot didn’t budge for fear of disturbing the clearly exhausted Lapis, but sleep eluded the vampire, who apparently had been out cold for three whole days. Instead, her mind obsessed over the subject of the memory of that horrendous night. More specifically, why it wouldn’t go away. Peridot knew that she trusted Lapis now, at least a tad more than she trusted the average friend. And she _knew_ she loved Lapis; _that_ was more than evident in the overwhelming amount of time she had spent daydreaming about the woman since they had met, in the effort she was putting into fixing their strained relationship. Peridot sighed heavily, inching herself off the couch so as not to disturb the sleeping Lapis beside her, taking a full five minutes before she was on her feet and Lapis lay undisturbed.

 She needed a cigarette.

Everything was bathed in a ruddy light from the sun sitting low on the horizon, seeping into the atmosphere. Hands fidgeting with one another, Peridot took a lap around the location, which she quickly came to accept was, in fact, a small house. The ground floor was composed of three rooms: the living room took up one-half of the floor plan from the front wall to the back, the other half of which was split between a kitchen and some sort of foyer and entryway combination. Stairs split the floorplan down the middle, a direct path leading from the front door past the entryway and foyer and right up the stairs. The wood boards groaned even beneath the tip-toe of the vampire’s cat-like steps. The stairs led to the tiniest little hallway, one end curving around and leading to the only bathroom in the whole house, and the other end of the hallway leading to three doors all cluttered together. Peridot poked her head into each one: they all seemed to be bedrooms the size of closets, but only two of them actually housed a bed inside. The third bedroom, much to Peridot’s surprise, had been filled to the brim with plants, lining the walls, hanging from the ceiling, sitting on cheap wooden crates, crowding every space a beam of light from the surrounding windows might land. Peridot lingered in the doorway far longer than she had for the other two bedrooms, finding herself inching into the room cautiously. Her feet carried her to the center of the room, where she spun as if on a swivel to take in the whole scene. The whole aura of the room was painfully nostalgic, the scent of wet dirt and blood meal and ashes filling her nose and sending her right back to her childhood…

 _“Dottie!” A voice called out, accent thick, tone the epitome of endearing. “_ Bogárkám, _would you come here a moment and help your_ anya _..?”_

_A three-year-old Peridot heard her mother as she was bouncing on her bed, her long blunt bangs falling into her eyes as she ceased her bouncing, calling back with all the excited volume her little lungs could muster. “Coming mommy!!”_

_Taking one last bounce on the mattress, Peridot launched herself from off her bed, failing to stick the landing as she went tumbling onto the floor. Muttering a quiet “ouchie” to herself, the tiny vampire rubbed her battered and band-aid covered legs and arms, peppering herself in kisses to fix all the boo-boos as she sped down the hall, went flying down the stair steps as fast as her tiny legs could carry her, and went sailing into her parent’s observatory. Passing through the observatory door was like traveling directly to the heart of the jungle, the whole room overgrown with tangling vines and exotic flowers of all colors of the rainbows, the air heavy with the humidity that rose off the potting soil and gathered on the windows. Easily navigating the maze of planters and tendrils, Peridot located her parents at the heart of the operation, the both of them wearing their gardening gloves and their clothes smattered with dirt. Squealing delightedly, Peridot ran at them as fast as she could, giggling cheerfully as her dad scooped her up and spun her around in the air, laughing heartily himself._

_“There’s our favorite little girl!” He cooed, bringing her in close to rub his nose to Peridot’s tiny little nose affectionately. “Come to give mommy and daddy a hand..?”_

_Peridot couldn’t stop giggling, curling up two little fists into her dad’s overgrown ginger hair and yanking his head down into a bow, allowing the tiny child to place a delicate kiss into his hair._

_“Thank you, sweet pea…” Her father blushed, flashing an adoring glance towards Peridot’s mother._

_“Come now,_ Bogárkám. _Let your father go and let’s get to work!”_

_As Peridot was lowered to the ground, she mooned at her mother, basked in the sight of her dark wavy hair and dark eyes and tanned complexion, gawked in wonder at her pregnant belly that seemed to grow ever larger with each passing day._

_“When’s my baby brother gonna come out, mama..?” Peridot asked impatiently as she dug her tiny—and yet still oversized—gloves from the gardening tool bag, fishing for a hand shovel._

_“Soon, my sweet girl,” Her mother replied. “You’ll play nice with him, won’t you? No rowdy business until your_ testvér _is older, understand?”_

_“Can he play school with me, mama? Playing school is lonely when you and daddy don’t play with me…”_

_“He won’t be big enough for a little while,” Her dad replied, crouching down to be at Peridot’s level. “But if he drinks lots of blood and gets plenty of sleep he’ll get big in no time. But you know what you two_ can _do once he’s born?”_

_“What?” Peridot’s eyes sparkled._

_“You can read him stories, just like we used to read_ you _stories when you were little.”_

Peridot found herself wiping furiously at her eyes, tears starting to spill over unwillingly as the memories of her childhood played out in her head. She left the plant-filled room in a hurry, ducking into one of the bedrooms and shutting the door. Diving onto the bed, the vampire shoved her face into a pillow and cried brokenly, losing track of time completely.

Peridot opened her eyes, finding herself back in her childhood bedroom, curtains drawn and sewn shut, walls painted a faint blue and patterned with hand-painted daisies. She was seven-years-old, hair cropped in a pixie cut with bangs, the whole haircut having begun to grow a bit too wild. Raised voices pushed up through the floorboards, too muffled to make out by the anger perfectly preserved. Peridot lay in her bed, covers drawn up over her head, too afraid to come out.

The sound of her door opening slowly on its creaking hinges drew the young vampire’s attention, pulling the covers down far enough to peek out from behind them. In the doorway stood a tiny boy, no older than three, wearing an oversized blue and white striped shirt that swallowed him whole down to his knees, ruddy hair curling wildly atop his head and around his ears, two softly-glowing purple-iris eyes staring into Peridot’s dimly lit bedroom.

“C’mere, Finn…” Peridot whispered to her baby brother, pulling back the covers to let him underneath. “Mama and Daddy want us to hide…”

The mute boy padded softly over to his sister’s bed, unable to pull himself up onto the mattress without Peridot’s help in pulling him up. She covered them both with the covers, neither needing a light to see one another in the darkness as their vampire eyes adjusted rapidly.

“It’s okay, Finn,” Peridot reassured her brother aloud, more or less to reassure herself; Finnian Quinn hadn’t ever been scared a moment in his peculiar little life. “Some mean people are angry, but mama and daddy are going to talk to them… we’ll be okay…”

Finnian looked to his sister, eyes reflecting what little light there was and glowing purple from the reflection, the boy’s expression stoic as he sucked his thumb kicked his leg to keep himself happy. Peridot played with his hair, gently tugging on his curls and watching them spring back into place as she let them go. Suddenly, a loud gunshot rattled the entire house, leaving Peridot’s ears ringing from the sheer volume magnified by her super-senses.

No sooner had the sound erupted was Peridot throwing off the covers and rushing out her bedroom door, barreling down the stairs in a panic.

“Mama!!” The scream tore from her throat, her voice breaking as she sought to reach her fullest volume. “Dad!!”

She bursts through the front door into the night, onto the front porch where she knew the confrontation had been taking place. The sight was so horrific it stopped her dead in her tracks. Blood soaked the lawn and the woodwork of the porch, glinting in the moonlight and looking practically black under the shade of night. The bodies of the folks causing trouble lay at unnatural angles around the porch, some still stuttering strange utterances as they gagged on their own blood gurgling up in their throats. And right in the middle of it all, her parents stood, their hostility reaching Peridot in one big wave they sent her into an uncontrollable bout of tears.

No sooner was she bawling that her mother had her in her arms, hugging her tightly, the blood soaking the Transylvanian women from head to toe seeping into Peridot’s clothes.

“It’s alright… we’re alright…” Her mother shushed, her voice a bit strangled from what Peridot could only imagine were tears of relief.

Peridot’s voice hiccupped around her sobs. “I-I-I h-heard a g-g-g-gunsh-shot…”

“We’re alright…” Her father’s voice sounded gently from where he had come to stand beside her mother, his heavy hand resting reassuringly on Peridot’s head. “They tried to hurt us, but they didn’t succeed. Your mother and I took care of it…”

Peridot hugged her mother tighter, burying her tear-soaked face into her mother’s bloodied shirt. “Mommy, I’m so scared…!!”

“You shouldn’t be scared,” Her mother spoke firmly, voice having become patriotic and empowering. “You’re a vampire, Peridot. And _my_ daughter. _They_ should be scared of _you_.”

Peridot startled awake quite suddenly as a hand touched her shoulder, and in an instant she was on her feet, teeth barred, shoulder’s hiked up. It took a moment to generally focus, but the sight of a startled and bed-headed Lapis was enough for Peridot to relax.

“Sorry…” Lapis spoke softly, a smile twitching at the corners of her from the sheer hilarity of Peridot’s spooked expression.

“I—… I was having a dream,” Peridot explained in a bit of a stutter, voice still rough but starting to find some strength, the vampire looking away as she cinched her brow moodily. “You sort of woke me at a bad time…”

“Hey, sorry…” Lapis frowned softly from where she sat on the bed, patting beside her as she watched Peridot’s face darken. “Sit with me…?”

“Lapis…” Peridot wouldn’t look at her. “I can’t do this…”

“What..?” Lapis blinked. “Do what..?”

Peridot gestured between herself and Lapis. “I—… I can’t live here, with you. I can’t be here around you… I can’t _be_ with you Lapis…”

“Peri!” Lapis was on her feet, face furrowed with concern. “What’s the matter..? Where’s this coming from..?”

“Lapis,” Peridot looked at her, face a mix of angry and scared. “Lapis. I’m a _vampire_. Do you understand?”

Lapis couldn’t help but snort in laughter. “Of _course_ I understand, you idiot. What, you think I’ve been buying you blood because you just like the taste?”

Peridot felt her chest tighten, panic starting to wash over her. “No, Lapis, you _don’t_ understand! You don’t get it!!”

“Get what?” Lapis asked in exasperation, gesturing with her hands helplessly. “If there’s something I’m not getting, Peridot, it’s because you’re not telling me everything!”

“You want to know everything!?” Peridot’s voice broke as it tried to climb to a new level of volume. “I’m a fucking vampire! You should be _terrified_! Just… just _realizing_ that, you should be second guessing yourself, Lapis!!!”

“Well, I’m _not_ , Peri,” Lapis tried to explain through a growing sense of frustration. “I’ve dealt with vampires for a long time. You’re nothing like the rest of them…”

“ _You’re right_!!” Peridot snapped heatedly, fangs out. “I’m so much worse! I’m capable of _so much_ worse than any of them!! I’ve _done_ so much worse than any of them!!! _I’m a horrible person Lapis and you should get rid of me before you have to find that out firsthand!!!!”_

“Peri, please, I _know you_ , and you’re _not_ a horrible person..!” Lapis pressed, taking a step forward to comfort the vampire.

“I _am_!” She snarled, backing away from Lapis’ advancement. “And you’d be better off if I was dead! Everyone would! Hell, even _I_ would…!”

“PERIDOT!!” Lapis snapped, face a mask of horror. “Don’t say that!!!”

“No!!” She could feel her heart racing. She couldn’t breathe. The walls were pressing in on her. “Lapis, you _DON’T UNDERSTAND!!!”_

“Peri, I—!!!”

“ _JUST SHUT UP!!!_ ”

To both of their surprise, an eerie silence followed the vampire’s outburst, the vampire’s head feeling like it had been struck by lightning, everything lit up behind her eyes with an exhausting energy. Peridot turned to Lapis in terror only to find her worst fears confirmed: the blue-hair girl stood there looking absolutely petrified, mouth seemingly stuck shut.

“ _Fuck…._ ” Peridot breathed in mortification, feeling more and more drained with each passing moment she maintained the hypnosis. “Lapis, just—… sit down… on the bed… please…”

Without hesitation, Lapis backed up and sat herself down on the bed, hands folded in her lap, eyes, blazing with anger, trained on Peridot. Peridot stood there in front of her, pacing just a bit as she tried to get her breathing under control, every passing second feeling like a full sleepless night’s worth of exhaustion weighing on the vampire’s overly strained mind.

“Listen Lapis…” She sighed tersely, not daring to look her in the face as she maintained the hypnosis despite the sheer amount of energy it was costing her. “You shouldn’t be with me… and if you can’t see clearly enough to make the choice to be rid of me… I-I-I’ll make it for you… and for everyone…”

“P—… Peri….” Lapis struggled to get the words out around Peridot’s control over her mind. “N-No…”

Peridot shut her eyes, concentrating her hardest. “Go the fuck to sleep, Lapis…”

There was a soft _whump_ as Lapis fell to her side, landing on her side on the bed, unconscious, rest rising and falling peacefully, lips softly parted as she breathed, face the picture of innocence. Peridot stared a little too long, a burning need to cry overwhelming her before conviction washed it out. A quick glance out the window confirmed it was dark outside. Peridot turned on her heel and hurried to leave the house.

The tears started to spill unwillingly as she weaved her way through the college houses in the direction of the harbor and its bridge. Doubt kept eating away at her mind, but Peridot kept pushing it away, thinking of Lapis. It was only a matter of time. It was always only a matter of time before the vampire hunter figured Peridot out and left her high and dry. Better to cut it off now, Peridot thought bitterly, than to let herself be foolish enough to believe it could last.

Anger burned hot and unbearable inside Peridot as she found herself reentering the city from the college town suburbs, finding the road that ran parallel to the harbor and following up north towards the bridge. The air whipped up from the waters below, stinging Peridot’s face as mussing up her hair that she tugged out in her panic. It was starting to occur to the vampire that maybe, just _maybe_ , she wasn’t thinking too clearly. But her feet refused to slow. The bridge grew ever nearer, and with it, the escape.

She blinked, looking to either side as she continued on, realizing through the haze of her unbearable emotions that things looked somewhat familiar. Her mind worked painfully to figure the familiarity out, feet slowing as she placed where exactly she was. If Peridot took a right down 3rd Street, the street she had just passed by, Garnet’s house was only a half a block away.

Peridot stopped in her tracks, looking between 3rd Street and the iron harbor bridge that loomed up into the inky night sky, flashing lights seeming to beckon her to a quick jump and a watery grave. Turning her head, 3rd Street did nothing to call her to it, but the mere thought of Garnet, who had helped her get this far, who had been there when no one else was, who refused to give up when Peridot made it difficult for the therapist, who had seen Peridot _far_ lower in her life than she was even now…

She pushed off her heel and shuffled across the street despite the oncoming headlights and the deafening car horns, easily dodging the cars that went zooming past.

But… what if Garnet wasn’t home..? What if she _was_ done dealing with Peridot and all her shit..? What if she was home, but just didn’t want to see the vampire… what if—?

The house came into view much sooner than Peridot expected, slowing her pace as she approached. Her feet carried her up the stairs, to the door.

She knocked softly, not expecting an answer. Peridot had no idea what she was going to say. What could she say..?

The door opened abruptly, Garnet stood there, ashen-faced behind her dark glasses.

“Peridot..?” She inquired softly, sounding as if she might have been crying, outstretching a curious hand.

Peridot took the hand in her own, helping the blind woman to find the vampire’s tear-stained face, getting choked up all of a sudden. “It’s me…”

There were no words. The therapist found Peridot’s shoulder and pulled her into a tight hug, the two of them crying into one another on in the porchlight.


	17. What Has Fangs May Bite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With her secrets starting to bubble to the surface, Peridot has to come face to face with the thing she's come to hate the most: herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ending might be a little rough, guys, and I apologize. My brain is fried from studying and essay-cranking; feel free to read it now, but I'll probably come back and tweak things over the weekend... when I'm finished, I'll change this note here to let you all know! :)

Peridot sat curled up on a couch, tangled up in a collection of unbelievably soft blankets, bare feet poking out from the silky bundle, tongue peeking out and brow cinched as she trapped a piece of paper between a pencil and her drawn-up legs. A dozen and a half similar pieces of paper lay on the coffee table and the surrounding floor, filled up from edge to edge with little doodles and patterns, though some simply covered in shapeless scrawling. Two empty glasses of water lay overturned at the foot of the couch beside a glad half-full and upright, which the vampire reach down and took hold of, drinking down a big gulp before returning the cup to the floor. The TV stared down Peridot, tuned into Food Network, some Rachel Ray wannabe jabbering on and on—at a low volume, thankfully—about the family history behind the dessert she was whipping up. The only other sound in the small house was that of Peridot’s jaw, working away on a piece of nicotine gum—the last in the pack, having worked through the whole thing overnight and into the morning.

Her phone buzzed furiously on the table, lighting up beneath a pile of drawing. Abandoning her work in progress, Peridot stretched to grab the cell phone from the coffee table, recoiling like a spring back into her corner of the couch. It was Garnet. She answered, pinching the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she took up her paper and pencil once more.

“Hey Garnet…”

“Peridot,” The woman spoke in that utterly ensnaring voice of hers, so calm and confident all at once. “Still feeling alright..?”

“Yeah,” Peridot couldn’t help but laugh a bit in amusement. “You only left me like, five minutes ago…”

“I was just making sure the ketamine hasn’t worn off.” The woman sighed to herself. “Is O positive too strong..? You said you’ve been unconscious for three whole days…”

Peridot hummed thoughtfully, adding whiskers to her cat doodle. “I’ll take it slow…”

“Alright,” Garnet replied. “And did you say Cocoa Puffs or Cocoa Pebbles…?”

“Cocoa _Krispies_ ,” Peridot whined, adding after a moment: “Please…”

Garnet chuckled. “Coco Krispies. Got it. I’ll be home soon; I expect you to have showered by then, Peridot.”

Peridot wrinkled her nose. “I don’t have a change of clothes…”

“I’ll buy you one. No excuses: go shower.”

“Ugh,” Peridot squinted as she attempted some shading, tongue poking out again. “Fine…”

“See you soon, Peridot. Be safe.”

The line clicked, and the vampire let the phone slide from her shoulder, not caring as it slipped between the couch cushions, too focused on finishing her drawing. Peridot snuck a quick glance towards the TV to keep up with the Food Network host and her dishes, finding herself mesmerized by the chocolate cake the cameras zoomed in on and panned around dramatically. It suddenly occurred to her that it’d been _days_ since she had eaten something substantial. Gathering all her blankets around her, she padded into Garnet’s kitchen, poking about in the fridge and finding a honey flavored yogurt, rummaging through doors for a spoon and taking her snack with her upstairs to the bathroom, scooping yogurt onto the spoon and then licking the utensil clean like a popsicle.

The shower water ran hot, steaming up the cozy little bathroom as Peridot took her time with the yogurt, finding herself toying with the bandage in the crook of her arm, still tender from the intravenous injection of Garnet’s secret ketamine supply. The light-headed high had long since worn off, but at the twelfth hour, even the tiny dosage had Peridot feeling better than she had in weeks. The yogurt tasted amazing on her tongue. The billows of steam rolling out of the shower felt heavenly on her skin. The vampire finally could find the motivation to take care of her person, starting with a shower.

Turning the water cold, Peridot stripped out of her stale clothes stiff from overuse—they were still the clothes she had borrowed from Amethyst what seemed like an eternity ago. The water felt electric over her skin as it sent goosebumps from her toes to her shoulders, soaking through her mess of thick hair slick with styling gel and three day’s worth of oil. The smell of lavender overwhelmed her senses as the scented soap lathered over skin and flaked off in frothy bubbles, cleaning away the layer of grime built up on her body. Peridot was in the middle of working shea butter shampoo into her stiff hair when the final stages of the drug began to wear off, taking with it her improved mood. Before long, the shower became tedious instead of enjoyable, leaving the vampire going through the motions with a lackluster energy. With her boy washed and her hair cleaned and rinsed, Peridot leaned her head against the shower wall, feeling herself re-engulfed in the viscous pit of depression as the cold water trickled over her body and filled up her mouth.

A knock came softly but firmly on the door; it was Garnet. “Peridot, are you alright in there..?”

Peridot hesitated, then withdrew her head from beneath the shower’s stream. “Not really…”

“That’s alright, sweetheart. I brought some clothes.” Peridot heard the door open slighty from behind the shower curtain, followed by the muffled _whump_ of something hitting the floor. “Get dressed, and then we’ll dose you back up, okay?”

“Okay…” Peridot answered softly, reaching out her hand to turn off the water, beginning to shiver as she withdrew the curtain.

The clothes were a pair of oversized grey sweatpants and an oversized sweatshirt practically large enough to be a dress, pale green with a rustic decal of a moose’s head painted on in white. She slipped back into her underwear and bra before pulling on the new sweats, finding herself swallowed whole by the fleece-lined garments.

Blunt nails bit into the arm of the couch as Peridot sat, face scrunched up in distress as Garnet removed the band-aid from the crook of the vampire’s rubber-band-constricted arm, feeling around for a good vein to inject.

“You know,” Garnet commented wryly, eyes twinkling behind her dark glasses. “For a being that survives through piercing arteries, you’re awfully squeamish with the subject…”

“Yeah, well, it’s a _little_ different when—“ Peridot’s voice turned to a squeak of pain as the needle sank unexpectedly into her arm, followed by the steady pressure of the injection. “ _Fuck_!!” She whined, kicking her feet softly in utter discomfort.

Garnet removed the needle, promptly pressing a patch of guaze to the site of injection, the cloth blooming crimson with blood as the therapist applied pressure. “We’re going to do this twice weekly for the next month or two, understand? Today’s an exception—one dose for the suicidal thoughts, another for the depression—but we don’t want you going and getting addicted to this stuff. Ketamine will mess you up if you abuse it, young lady!”

Peridot didn’t respond, the drug going to work almost instantly, pushing the vampire into a floating high and a soft euphoria.

“Peridot.”

“Hmm..?” She forced herself to focus on Garnet’s voice.

“One of us is blind, and the other’s currently high. Which one do you reckon will make a better breakfast..?”

The words of the Food Network website didn’t stick in Peridot’s mind like they should have, but the longer Peridot went without comprehending the recipe and its instructions, the more she was beginning to believe in her omelet-making abilities. It had been ages since she had been able to play around in a full-sized kitchen, and the vampire was coming to garner great enjoyment out of juggling three recipes at once. Little circles of pancake batter bubbled around the edges in a pan, the cakey scent mixing with the oh-so intoxicating aroma of lightly burnt bacon, sizzling at low heat on the back burner to keep it warm. She cracked another egg into a glass bowl with a dozen others, fishing little bits of shell from the whites hastily before diving over to the pancakes, flipping them all and gazing appreciatively at the perfectly tanned side revealed.

Peridot was whisking together the eggs when her phone began to buzz on the countertop, screen dusted in a thick layer of flour and impossible to read. Setting the bowl aside, the vampire answered, sticking it between her shoulder and ear as she picked the task of whisking back up.

“Hello…?”

“Oh, wow, _four whole days_ and _now_ you decide to pick up?!” It was Amethyst, pissed and worried in one tone that was, no doubt, her signature emotion.

“I could hang up if you’d like..” Peridot answered dryly, only partially kidding around.

“Ass,” Amethyst replied snarkily, though a concern still prevailing in her voice. “Where the hell of you been for the last four days that you couldn’t answer your damn phone when your best friend called..?”

“Asleep, actually…” Peridot answered matter-of-factly as she poured half of her beaten eggs into a hot pan.

Amethyst snorted. “Oh man, did you do one of those special vampire comas of yours…? Bet that scared the _living hell_ out of what’s-her-face, your pretty little flame…”

“Yeah, I think I did…” Peridot sighed, picking up a spatula and watching the eggs like a hawk. “And yes, it most certainly did…”

Amethyst laughed uproariously on her end. “Oh man! I wish I coulda seen the look on her face!!”

“Yeah, well, she was pissed… you would’ve gotten a kick out of it…”

“Speaking of which,” The laughter died quite a bit. “Where the hell are you..? I came by your place when you wouldn’t answer your damn phone… I could hardly smell you on the air, P…”

“It’s a bit of a… vacation. No big deal…” She slipped her omelet over. “But tell me: what’s been up with you..? How is… everything..?”

“Well, funny you should ask… see, I wouldn’t be bugging you like this is it wasn’t important, _especially_ since I don’t want to call and kill some mood, ya know?”

“Get on with it, Ames…” Peridot sighed prissily.

“We got a tip, just a few days ago, the Blood Brothers and The Fangs. Anonymous, too. Apparently, this chick got attacked by a hunter, dunno why. They shot her, in the chest. It was almost fatal, P! But she pulled through, called ol’ Marty up to deliver the bullet. The _very_ bullet that fucking hunter used to shoot this chick. Marty claims he can use it to find out the gun that was used. Hunters tend to use custom rigs, you know, good for hunting in a crowded city, but not good for hiding yourself among the masses of factory issued firearms.”

“Wow…” Peridot tried to sound impressed as her stomach turned to a pit of lead, mouth becoming a desert of nervousness. “So are you gonna be able to uh… catch this hunter..?”

“I hope so!” Amethyst growled. “I’ve been doing a little field work myself. Snooping around the supposed scene of the crime, trying to see if I can’t pick up an escape trail that’ll take me right to this fucking hunter’s doorstep.”

“Hey, be safe…” Peridot gulped, feeling light headed. “I’ve gotta run here... but talk to you later..?”

Amethyst giggled lewdly. “Sure thing, P! I can take a hint! Call me when you get down with that hottie of yours!”

“Yep...” Peridot cringed a bit. “Bye…”

 Peridot retrieved her phone from between her ear and shoulder, clicking the call to a close and tossing the device onto the counter as she moved to fetch cheese from the fridge. The refrigerator door sat ajar as Peridot leaned distractedly inside, mind drifting from her search and landing instead on thoughts of Lapis. The vampire cringed, chest getting tight and pulse racing as she thought back on the situation that had separated her from her blue-haired lover. She hadn’t m _eant_ to take control of Lapis’ mind, but that was precisely the reason Peridot feared returning to her: mind control was one thing, but if Peridot slipped up with any of her other abilities, the result would be far less benign than it had been this time around.

“Peridot.”

The vampire startled something awful at Garnet’s sudden voice, banging her head on a fridge shelf as she darted back out from inside the contraption, staring guiltily into those dark emotionless glasses.

“Yes…?”

“How’s breakfast coming along?” The therapist navigated quite easily over to the blonde, a hand finding Peridot’s arm and then her face, fingers feeling the flour-smattered cheek and bringing about a soft smile. “You haven’t _completely_ trashed my kitchen, have you..?”

Peridot smiled despite herself. “It’s coming along well, and your kitchen’s quite fixable, I promise…”

Garnet laughed softly. “I’ll take your word for it, Ms. Quinn.” She began wandering the kitchen with a rather high degree of confidence.  “What are we having…? It all smells so wonderful…”

Peridot dove back into the fridge to grab the cheese before hurrying back to her spot at the stove to attend to her omelet. “Uh, well, I cooked up some bacon, pancakes, a-and I’m working on some omelets…”

“You’ve truly blown my expectations out of the water,” Garnet smiled. “Tell me… do you think it’ll be enough for three..?”

“Three..?” Peridot frowned quizzically, taking stock of her prepared food. “Uhh… yeah, probably. I should have enough eggs here for two more omelets… might be little small though… why?”

Garnet shrugged a bit, changing the subject easily. “Did I hear you talking to someone on the phone in here..?”

Peridot frowned considerably on account of her lack of answers, but played along. “Yeah. It was Amethyst.”

“Ah yes,” Garnet nodded sagely. “How are you two? Still getting along or has something new managed to wedge itself between you two?”

Peridot shrugged, sprinkling the omelet full of cheese and folding it over. “Things have been a bit… _strained_ , since I started hanging out with Lapis…”

“Understandable,” The therapist sighed gently. “A classic case of werewolf possessiveness. You know, I can always ask Rose to speak to her on the subject if she becomes too much to handle… starts externalizing again…”

“No..!” Peridot replied far too quickly, curbing her tone sharply. “No, she’s fine, honestly. Look, she gets jealous whenever I start seeing someone new, but we’re still friends, and Amethyst respects that…. _eventually_ …”

“I understand,” Garnet replied calmly, placing a reassuring hand on Peridot’s incredibly tense shoulder. “But _you_ should understand that you two had a _lot_ to work out after your breakup, and it's normal for those issues to resurface again much later…”

“I understand,” The blonde replied tersely. “And if that happens, you can trust I’ll come see you about it. Okay? So can we just—…”

“Yes, I apologize…” Garnet nodded. “I’ll leave you to your cooking then…”

Peridot focused intently on the breakfast preparation at hand, trying desperately to keep her mind from wandering to Amethyst, to Lapis, to the general mess that was the vampire’s life. The first omelet turned out with minimal wonkiness, and the second was nearly perfect. She was just about finished with a perfect third when a knock sounded at the door, firm but timid in its execution.

“Garnet!” Peridot called, spatula already working around the crispy edges of the omelet, flour sprinkling from the blonde’s hair and blinding her in one eye. “Want me to get that..?”

“No, I’ve got it!” The therapist called back, stepping with a confidence from the living room to the front door.

Infinitely curious as to who the third party joining them for breakfast was, Peridot leaned as far as she could to see through the kitchen doorway, but her scant view was blocked as the front door swung open and covered up the kitchen doorway. The vampire quickly buckled down and finished her last omelet, plating it hastily before rushing towards the doorway, the front door shutting and revealing Lapis Ann Lazuli.

Peridot couldn’t help but stare, heart pounding deafeningly in her ears as her stomach twisted up inside her with utter guilt. Lapis looked her way, blinking a bit in surprise as she, too, stared, expression unreadable, eyes shaded by a mess of bangs.

“Peri…” The sheer amount of uneasiness in Lapis’ voice felt like a punch to the gut to the vampire.

Peridot swallowed hard around the suffocating lump in her throat, struggling to breathe. “Lapis I’m _so sorry_ …”

Lapis’ face darkened with both pain and anger as she turned away, looking to Garnet uncertainly. “Are you sure about this..?”

“Quite sure,” Garnet replied gently, motioning Lapis into the living room before addressing Peridot. "Be a dear and bring our breakfast over here, would you?”

Peridot nodded dejectedly, then remembered her blind therapist and spoke up in a soft, miserable tone. “Sure thing…”

The vampire took her time transporting all the plates of food from the kitchen to the coffee table in the living room, sulking about as she grabbed a plate or two then rushing to set them down and dash back to the kitchen. All the while, Peridot didn’t dare look to Lapis, terrified to find any sort of aggression or despise burning in those stormy eyes of hers. Even when all the food was brought out, Peridot still managed to stall longer as she gathered up plates and silverware for the three of them, fiddling with the forks and knives far longer than she should. When there was nothing left to keep her in the kitchen, Peridot sulked to the couch, squeezing herself up against the armrest as she tried desperately to keep space between herself and Lapis, who sat tensely at the other end of the couch.

Garnet sat in an armchair at the head of the coffee table, smiling knowingly despite the palpable tension in the air. “Would you two rather start with breakfast, or with the talking..?”

Peridot and Lapis spoke simultaneously:

“Talking,” Peridot mumbled.

“Breakfast,” Lapis huffed.

Garnet leaned back in her chair, pulling a recording device from between the cushions. “I think it might be best if we talk things out first... Ms. Lazuli—”

“Lapis. Please…” Lapis replied, eyes burning holes into the therapist to keep them off Peridot.

“Ms. Lapis, why don’t we start with you..? You didn’t have to come when I called… why did you..?”

Lapis shifted in her seat. “Well, to put it simply… I guess… I’m beginning to feel like I’ve bitten off more than I can chew… if that makes sense..?”

Garnet nodded. “Sure… could you elaborate? Specifics, maybe?”

Lapis stiffened, voice echoing her posture. “Peridot is a vampire.”

Peridot flinched visibly, retreating into herself, elbows tucked into her sides, hands clasped together nervously in her lap. Lapis didn’t dare look her way.

Garnet folded her hands. “And when did you come to that conclusion? Just recently?”

Lapis was quiet. “N-No… but I—… I believe I’ve _underestimated_ the degree of vampire I was dealing with…”

“And why’s that?”

“Well for one, she was quite literally dead by medical standards for three days, and then she just… woke up..!” Lapis flashed a glance towards Peridot, but her eyes stuck on the sorry sight they saw, stared a little too long, voice drifting slightly. “And I think she hypnotized me or something similar last night… one second we were arguing and the next I was doing exactly what she said, a-a-and I _knew_ what was happening, but I couldn’t fight it…”

“How did that make you feel, Lapis..?”

Lapis looked down at her hands. “It was terrifying… unnerving, too…”

Garnet kept quiet a moment before speaking back up. “Peridot? What do you have to say..?”

Peridot’s voice was hardly audible. “Lapis should’ve shot me when she wanted to… it would’ve been better for both of us…”

“Peridot..!!” Lapis gasped in anger and horror, at a loss for words.

The vampire curled into a ball, looking away as tears welled up in her eyes and streaked down her cheeks silently.

Lapis inched closer to her on the couch, voice low. “Peri…”

Peridot turned to glare at her, pulling away from her advance and barring her fangs, hissing viciously. Lapis hesitated, blinking in surprise as she withdrew back to her place on the couch, turning her face away.

“Ms. Quinn,” Garnet interjected firmly. “Use your _words_.”

“She’s not sappy! She’s not!” Peridot growled indignantly. “She _really_ scared of me, and so she’s trying to make me out to be some fluffy little girl who’s calmed by cuddles!”

The vampire pouted broodily, expression dark as she muttered. “Cuddle me and I’ll rip out your jugular with my teeth…”

Lapis glared darkly, but the threat landed, her heart beginning to race in her chest.

“Peridot,” Garnet sighed impatiently. “Threaten my guest Ms. Lapis again, and I’ll sedate you. Cool it, missy.”

Garnet waited to see if Peridot would interject again, then spoke in the resounding silence. “Ms. Lapis, since Ms. Quinn will not elaborate on the subject, _I_ will. You are right to feel you’re in deep waters, even with… _your experience_. The majority of the vampire community is classified more closely to a diseased human than the _Homo vampyris,_ the original ancestor species. The disease manifests in symptoms that classify a vampire: the metabolic dependency on blood, the _tapetum_ in the eye, the physical manifestation of fangs, functional or otherwise. And for many, infertility is among those symptoms. To have a properly strong bloodline requires vampire parentage. And because most vampires cannot reproduce, the universal vampire bloodline grows weaker with every passing generation. The population is made up mainly of human individuals turned vampire, or vampire children born from one vampire parent—usually the mother—and one human parent.”

“But…” Lapis spoke up, casting a wary glance towards the brooding blood across the couch. “Not Peri..?”

Garnet shook her head. “Peridot’s parents were two very lovely, very powerful vampires, and because of this, Peridot is also of a class much more pure and powerful than most. This means she had abilities that aren’t documented in the general vampire population. And, if we’re being honest, not all of them are explicitly known by even Peridot herself. Just a few years back, Peridot and I _both_ learned that she may go into something of a hibernation-like state if severely injured. All vital signs drop to nearly unnoticeable levels, including an unnerving dip in body temperature. But nevertheless, she seems to awaken after a period of one to several days. And when she does…”

“My abilities get a little haywire…” Peridot cut in in a grumble, still refusing to make eye contact with either Lapis or Garnet. “They end up on something of a hairpin trigger… practically anything can cause them to manifest—”

“Like an argument…” Lapis finished the sentence, starting to gain a better perspective.

Peridot nodded slightly. “Yeah, that’ll do it…”

“So…” Lapis began carefully. “You didn’t… _mean_ to hypnotize me… o-or whatever that was…?”

“Of course not!” Peridot looked to Lapis, seeming utterly exhausted. “But that doesn’t excuse it… can you imagine if you—… if you had gotten a paper cut or something..? Lapis… I-I don’t _want_ to hurt you… but I far too easily _can_ …”

“Peridot…” Lapis spoke softly.

“A-And, look, I-I-I know you think you can handle it, handle _me_ , because you’ve… _dealt_ with vampires before, but—… what if I’m too much..? What if you _can’t_ handle it..?”

“Peridot…”

“I-If you got hurt because of me Lapis… _by me_ … I-I-I could never forgive myself… I-I—”

“ _Peridot_ ,” Lapis stressed gently. “Look, I’m _sure_ I can deal with whatever weird pureblooded vampire tricks you’ve got up your sleeve… _if_ , you would just _tell me_ what they are…”

Peridot clamped her mouth shut, retreating into herself again without warning or explanation.

“Peri, _come on_ …” Lapis sighed impatiently.

Garnet sat up in his chair, clicking the recorder off. “Maybe it would best if we eat before breakfast gets cold… come back to these topics afterward..?”

“Yes, I think that’d be best,” Lapis agreed a bit huffily, shooting a glance towards the haughty vampire.

Peridot stared pointedly at a spot on the far wall, the wheels of her mind clearly cranking away behind the stubborn glare on her visage, hiding the hurt that radiated inside her chest like a fire. “Lets.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's about to pick up, and introduce a whole new subplot, so everyone get ready to hold your hats and keep your socks on! :D


	18. Justice and Jealousy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot and Lapis' relationship becomes strained as they decide to redefine it

_See other people_. Garnet’s advice plagued Peridot’s mind ceaselessly, keeping the vampire tossing and turning in her bed as she tried to sleep through the misery. She’d wake at 6 AM— _see other people_ —and proceed to kick off her blankets, cover her head with a pillow, and sink back into unconsciousness. Her eyes would blink blearily awake at 2 PM— _see other people_ —and she’d yank her sheets back up to her chin and curl in a ball, drifting back to sleep. The clock read 1 AM in blurry red text as she came to a fuzzy form of consciousness, hardly needing to roll over before she was out cold again: _see other people_.

Peridot wasn’t remotely sure of the day when she finally rolled her feet over the edge of the bed, sitting up among the tangle of blankets and covers, rubbing at her eyes until the clock took focus: 12:30 PM. Her bedroom was pitch black, a blanket hanging over the window that Peridot didn’t quite recall nailing there, the door jammed by a chair that didn’t seem particularly familiar. She sat at the edge of her bed, eyes still drooping and head feeling heavy and she listened intently to the house, to its soft creaks and groans, trying to hear footsteps or movement among the usual symphony of sounds. There was none.

 _See other people_ , Garnet had suggested strongly. _There’s no use wallowing in this relationship of yours if neither of you is happy with it. You ought to call a break, put yourselves back out there. See if you can move on. And if you can’t, well… then you know this relationship is something worth working on._

And that was that. The unspoken end to an unspoken relationship. Entirely fitting.

Peridot kicked aside the chair blocking her door and opened it gently, hissing groggily to herself as the daylight-lit house greeted her in all its overstimulating glory, penetrating the enteral-night-like darkness of the vampire’s bedroom. She quickly realized the house was the very definition of empty, from the abandoned bedrooms of the upstairs to the lazy dusty-aired rooms of the main floor, disturbed only by the soft pitter patter of Peridot’s sock-damped footsteps down the stairs and into the kitchen. But despite the undisturbed aura of the house, the blonde knew her ex-lover turned begrudging housemate couldn’t have been absent long. The scent of her perfume—like dainty pink flowers caught in a hot summer blaze—hung in the stagnant air almost as clearly as if the blue-haired woman had been there in person. Peridot tried not to focus on the whiffs she kept catching, each time she smelled it acting as a reminder that Lapis wasn’t there because Lapis was _out_ —probably on a date, probably laughing at some girl’s jokes, probably toying light little touches on that girl’s hand, probably fixing that damn girl with those sultry dark eyes and that coy half-smile…

If it hadn’t been during the day, Peridot’s frustrated grip on the refrigerator handle would have crushed the metal fixture like paper.

As she fished through the crowded fridge for the milk and her carton of O-positive blood, Peridot dialed Amethyst with her free hand, listening to the ring expectantly, reminding herself for the umpteenth time that she _wasn’t_ looking for rebound sex, she _wasn’t_ looking for a date, she _wasn’t_ looking for anything other than a chat between close friends. And for the umpteenth time, the rings rolled over into voicemail, and Peridot was left feeling all the more alone in the world as she set the milk out onto the table beside the blood.

The vampire’s mind was utterly distracted as she only half-consciously sought out her box of Cocoa Krispies, realizing partway through the search that her cereal was MIA in all its usual spots; Peridot extended her search to all the cabinets she could reach. She let out an absolutely frustrated huff of a sigh as the last cabinet’s doors flew open, only to reveal a distinct lack of chocolately cereal. It was only then, muttering darkly to herself, that Peridot had the presence of mind to look up at the high cabinets, spotting a sticky note and squinting it into focus, a difficult task without her glasses: _Next time, put your cereal away yourself!! – Lapis :)_

Groaning hopelessly, Peridot tossed herself into a chair at the tiny little kitchen table, moping dejectedly as she grabbed the milk and unscrewed the cap, taking a gulp from the jug. Her features screwed up in disgust and horror as her taste buds recognized, a little too late, the distinct unpleasantry that was sour milk. The vampire launched from her chair to the sink, spluttering the bad milk down the drain and rinsing her mouth beneath the stream of water, leaving the milk jug beside the sink as she returned to her seat. Popping the cap from her carton of blood, Peridot took a tentative sip, sighing through her nose in utter disappointment as notes of fridge-taste and unbearable staleness swarmed her palate. Becoming hastily fed up with having even gotten out of bed, Peridot hauled herself from her chair and dug a bendy straw from one of the kitchen drawers, sticking it into the carton of stale blood and propping her head up on two fists, elbows on the table, posture awful as she sipped the blood unhappily, eyes drooping closed and mind drifting away from conscious thought.

The sound of the front door squealing open and slamming shut—as it tended to so—startled Peridot from her little nap at the kitchen table, straw still held in her mouth as her eyes turned to watch Lapis strut into the kitchen, surprise written all over the woman’s face. But the surprise was the _last_ thing Peridot noticed, attention caught up in the dress shirt and sweater combo paired with rather transparent tights and a frayed pair of jean shorts cut teasingly high up the legs.

“Peridot!” Lapis expressed in pleasant tone veiled with sarcasm. “You’re not dead!”

Peridot rolled her eyes pointedly as she sipped another mouthful of blood before spitting out the straw. “And _you_ didn’t get laid…”

“How do _you_ know?” Lapis teased a bit too sharply to be lighthearted, tossing her purse onto the counter, then retrieving the tea kettle from the stovetop and filling it at the sink.

“Oh believe me,” Peridot snorted, lisping through her fangs. “I would smell it on you if you did…”

“Even during the day..?” Lapis seemed genuinely curious, and the face she turned towards the blonde seemed to agree with her tone.

“You’d be surprised the shit I can do drinking this much O,” Peridot sighed into the straw, taking another quick sip. “For instance: your date was a were-person. Not were _wolf_ , but certainly something of a predatory nature…”

“Aw man, seriously..?” Lapis tugged her sweater up to her face, taking a whiff, brow cinched in disappointment. “But she was so nice…”

Peridot gave her a tired look. “What’s wrong with dating a were-person..?”

Lapis mulled over the question as she put the kettle back on the stove, turning on the heat. “Nothing, I guess…”

“Ah,” Peridot nodded in realization. “She was a pretentious asshole, wasn’t she..?”

Lapis sighed, sitting herself down across from Peridot and sulking, cheek in hand and propped up by an elbow on the table. “Yeah, a little bit… kept talking about the coffee like it was a book of poetry worth dissecting… and you know what she did for a living..?”

Peridot had returned to sucking on her straw, but she raised her eyebrows in inquiry.

Lapis looked at her helplessly. “Nothing! She said _a lot of something_ about being sustainable and self-sufficient and that she’d never need an income if she made her own clothes and grew her own food… _god_ it was dry…”

Peridot snorted to herself, abandoning the straw again. “Well gee, I better get myself a damn source of income…”

Lapis looked at her in gentle bafflement. “You work at the bar—… oh, right…”

Peridot sighed heavily as she nodded, drinking deeply from the straw once more.

Lapis frowned. “But… Garnet said that was on the grounds that you—what?—quit smoking, right? And you quit… _right_..?”

“Cold turkey,” Peridot muttered, mind drifting back to that meeting with Garnet, a conversation between the two of them shortly after Lapis had left to return home:

_“Peridot, you know as well as I do that you need to quit smoking…”_

_“Why would I? I’m a damn vampire… I’m sure I’ll make it until they can fix my lungs…”_

_Garnet was silent a minute, speaking up in a much more hushed tone. “You know… secondhand smoke is pretty bad for you too…”_

_Peridot opened her mouth the express her disdain, but then the intent of Garnet’s words struck her like a train: Lapis._

_“Okay…” Peridot resigned in a murmur after a long minute of pensive silence, horror gripping her chest and refusing to let go. “Okay, I will…”_

Lapis sighed quietly, playing with her hair absentmindedly as she looked out the window. “That’s dumb… they should’ve given you your job back by now…”

Peridot shrugged, head starting to spin from the sheer amount of blood she had managed to drink. “Anymore dates planned, lovergirl…?”

Lapis looked at her, an expression so soft it made the vampire’s heart ache. “One. A dinner date.”

“Awesome,” Peridot replied stiffly, rising to her feet clumsily in her haste. “That’s… that’s great Lapis…”

“Peri…”Lapis offered gently. “It’s just a date… it doesn’t mean anything… you ought to try getting yourself one… I could help, if you’d—”

“ _No_ ,” The blonde practically snapped, hurrying to return the almost-empty carton of blood to the fridge. “I can handle my own shit, okay..? Just—… I’ll be upstairs…”

And just like that, Peridot retreated from the kitchen and practically sprinted up the stairs, barreling into her bedroom and shutting the door, grabbing the chair laying on the ground and propping it back up under the door handle.

The moment she hit the bed, the blonde was out cold once more.

Peridot woke up bawling, chest heaving spastically as she drew in a sharp, uneven breaths and sobbed it all back out, hands gripping to the sheets so intensely her fingers dug into the mattress foam, heart beating so loud they may as well have been no other sound in the entire universe. The moment she came to grips with the reality around her, Peridot curled up into a tight ball, tear-soaked face buried into her knees and knuckles turning white hugging her legs to her chest, her whole body shaking like a leaf in a thunderstorm. While the rich and pure O blood served to heighten Peridot’s abilities, it also had the unnerving side effect of plaguing her mind with the piercing scream of savage instincts. Instincts that were easily quelled by the conscious mind, but ran amok in her dreams as she lay unconscious. And Peridot was still seeing red long after startling awake from the godawful dream…

A soft knock came at the door, but the abruptness of the noise nearly gave the blonde a heart attack.

“Peri..?” Lapis’ voice came muffled from the other side, the doorknob jostling but the door jammed by the chair. “Hey, you okay…? Can I come in—?”

“ _LEAVE ME ALONE!!!”_ Peridot snarled, the fear swarming her head conveying itself through the concentrated anger in her voice.

There wasn’t another word out of Lapis, the only sign that the hunter hadn’t up and vaporized from the face of the earth that of her footsteps retreating softly down the creaky stairs. Normally, Peridot wouldn’t have bothered to follow after her roommate, but her stomach churned with a sense of dread, and before she knew it, the vampire was struggling to get her door open and tumble down the stairs.

“Lapis…!!!” Peridot stuttered in a panic.

“No!!” Lapis snapped back, storming into the kitchen and yanking open the fridge. “You’ve overdone it, you parasitic little shit!!”

“That’s— _that’s none of your business!!_ ” Peridot hissed threateningly, jumping down the last several stair steps and scrambling madly on the wooden floor to round the corner into the kitchen.

The vampire reached the kitchen a moment too late, Lapis already dumping the rest of the O-positive down the drain.

“ _FUCK, LAPIS_!!!” Peridot screeched, nearly tearing out her hair in absolute horror.

Lapis glared daggers at her roommate, not reluctant for a moment as the rather viscous liquid poured slowly from the carton into the sink. “Do you know how much of this was left!? Like fucking _none_!! Peridot, we’ve had this for all of _two days_!! This should last you _at least a FUCKING WEEK!!!”_

“You don’t know that!! I’m _low_ , Lapis!! I _NEED THAT_!!”

Peridot barred her fangs—which had yet to retract since drinking earlier—launching herself at Lapis to try and save what little blood was left. Lapis reacted with lightning reflexes, abandoning the carton as she snagged the blonde’s outstretched arm, twisting it behind her back and swiftly kicking Peridot’s feet out from under her. In the blink of an eye, Peridot was on the ground, arm held fast behind her back by Lapis’ vice-like grip, the weight of the hunter keeping the smaller girl good and properly stuck where she lay.

Lapis voice came low and menacing from behind the vampire. “Don’t you _ever_ —!!”

“Okay okay, I’m _sorry_..!” Peridot squirmed helplessly, an enveloping sense of panic taking hold and making it near impossible to breathe, heart racing, goosebumps cropping up on her suddenly clammy skin…

“Lapis…!” The words were hardly audible, little more than a breathless sob. “ _Please_ —!!!”

 The blue-haired woman released the blonde immediately, the anger that had darkened her expression taking a backseat for an acute worry, wordlessly watching as Peridot scootched across the floor until she ran into the wall, a blinding look of panic glazing over her baby blue eyes.

“Peri…”

“Don’t do that…” Peridot whined softly between choked sobs, breath hideously uneven and whole body shaking violently. “Please… _please_ …” Her voice got buried beneath the sobs, hands gripping into hair tightly, knees drawn into her chest.

“I’m—… I’m sorry…” Lapis sat on the floor where she was already crouched, eyes glued to Peridot. “Do you want me to call Garnet..?”

Peridot didn’t answer, muttering inaudibly under her breath.

“Peri…” Lapis sighed in concern, moving closer and reaching out to comfort the vampire, her hand brushing Peridot’s toes; they were immediately withdrawn from the touch. “Peri, I want to help…”

The blonde lifted her head from her knees, fixing Lapis with the darkest of stares, the sort that sent icicles right into the hunter’s heart.

“You want to help?” She snarled venomously. “Then leave me the _fuck_ alone.”

Lapis glared, getting back to her feet in a huff and shaking her head in frustration. “Fuck you, Peridot. I hope you rot in hell.” She moved to storm from the room, when the practically empty carton of blood abandoned on the counter caught her eye. Lapis took it and threw it as hard as she could at the vampire on the floor, looking on in dark satisfaction as the carton made contact with a dull _thawk_ , the last remains of blood splattering all over Peridot.

“There’s your damn blood. Hope you’re happy.”

Peridot listened to the footsteps retreat from the kitchen, chest unbearably tight as for a few moments, she was sure Lapis would kick her on her way out. Keys jingled in the next room over, followed shortly by the squeak and slam of the front door opening and closing. Only then did Peridot find a little relief from the panic attack devouring her mind and body. Only then did she let herself cry as hard and long as she wanted to.

It was a very gradual process, but Peridot made her way out of the kitchen and up the stairs, winding up in the extra bedroom and all its jungle-esque mystique. The air in the room had a very distinct quality compared to the rest of the house, thick and cold and fresh, accented by the earthy tones of topsoil and weighted with humidity. Though the room was still painfully reminiscent of her childhood, Peridot had managed to tolerate the stomach-churning nostalgia and instead take the room at face value. Pothos and English Ivy grew like chaotic drapery in wide-brimmed baskets suspended from the ceiling, breaking up the room visually and creating a sense of privacy in the open space. The plethora of ground-bound plants was too many to name, but Peridot noted among them several ferns and palms and a couple rubber trees, all growing tall and unchecked surrounded by smaller bushier plant-brethren.

With panic still crushing her chest in its grip and a swarm of doom-inspiring thoughts buzzing ceaselessly in her head, Peridot sat herself down cross-legged in the middle of the room, focusing solely on her own breathing, taking in a deep breath and letting out with an equally as deep exhale, shutting her eyes and quieting her mind, as Garnet had taught her to do what seemed like an eternity ago; it really had only been a few years.

Peridot realized groggily she must’ve dozed off, head slumped forward, a crick in her neck, her head foggy and vision bleary. The room was dark, the sunlight that had filtered through the windows and illuminated everything having disappeared. She could hear everything too—the distant _thrum_ of a speaker blasting music at a house party several blocks away, the rush of the wind, the faint whisper of traffic back in the city—not to mention she could smell the plants so distinctly it was almost overwhelming. The fleeting thought of Lapis brought with it a stomach contorted with guilt and an apology ready on the tip of her tongue, the blonde rising stiffly from the floor and making her way down the hall and down the stairs.  A quick lap around the house told Peridot that her ex-lover wasn’t home, a fact that was baffling until she remembered Lapis’ date that evening. Peridot checked the time on her phone as she pulled it from her pocket. The night was young. Lapis was probably still at dinner. She probably wasn’t falling for another girl, and probably wasn’t heading back to her place, and _probably_ wasn’t taking off her clothes, and—…

Peridot went to the kitchen and found the wine.

Time was no longer relevant to Peridot by the time Lapis unlocked the door and returned home, the blonde having drunk herself into quite a buzz on the couch, verging on a stupor as the alcohol slowly absorbed into her bloodstream. She was the very picture of misery when Lapis walked into the living room to find her: what was once a full bottle of red wine was now half empty and sandwiched in Peridot’s lap, the vampire slouched languidly across the couch with an arm and leg spilling over the edge, blankets tangled up around her or abandoned on the floor, a bag of Doritos having tipped and spilled all over the carpet, two blood-shot eyes peering over at Lapis from beneath a fringe of terribly messy bedhead, and the TV tuned to some black and white romantic drama in a language Lapis couldn’t understand.

Lapis was at a loss for words, hands finding her hips in a display of disappointment, staring for a long minute at her mess of a roommate before tossing aside her purse and stomping over in resolve.

“Peridot Something Something Quinn!!” She chided, tone verging on angry but landing instead on exasperated.

“Fuck off…” Peridot grumbled as she took hold of the bottle of wine and went for another gulp.

Lapis snatched it away, setting the bottle out of the blonde’s reach on the coffee table. “What the hell is this all about? What, I go on a date and you binge drink on the couch, is that it?”

“Oh, is _that_ where you were?” Peridot replied vehemently, rolling her eyes. “I thought you were dabbling in casual _murder_ again…” Her eyes fell onto Lapis’ face, chest tightening as she fought to keep her snarky composure. “How’d it go..?”

“Excellently,” Lapis replied hotly, crossing her arms. “We’re going out again later in the week.”

“Fan- _fucking_ -tastic,” Peridot cheered in a tone practically oozing sarcasm, slinking off the couch and giving Lapis a wide breadth as she shuffled towards the doorway and the stairs.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going without cleaning all this shit up?” Lapis called out, tone edging closer and closer to rage with each sentence she contributed to their conversation.

Peridot looked back at her dully, expression turning downright haughty as the doorbell rung all of a sudden. “I’m getting the door, _duh_.”

Without waiting for Lapis’ undoubtedly angry reply, Peridot slid on the wooden floor from the living room to the entryway, hurrying to unbolt the lock on the door and pull it open. The instant Peridot laid eyes on the women in the doorway, confusion overwhelmed her already alcohol-foggy head. And by the look on the woman’s face, Peridot’s presence did the same to her.

“Amethyst…!?”

“Peridot…!?” Amethyst sounded mortified. “What the hell are _you_ doing _here_ …!?!”

“I, uh—”

Before the words were even out of the vampire’s mouth, Amethyst had her by the shirt and practically yanked her out of the house and onto the lawn with her. The reminder of Amethyst’s sheer strength had Peridot’s heart racing something awful, quickly backing out of arm’s reach the moment her feet touched the ground.

“What the hell Amethyst…!?” Peridot squeaked, voice breaking in shock.

Lapis appeared in the doorway, her face the picture of bafflement and concern. “Peri..?”

Peridot turned to reassure Lapis, but the words died in her throat as the sound of Amethyst’s blood-curdling snarl sounded behind her and sent a paralyzing shiver up her spine.

“That’s her, P!!” Amethyst barred her teeth, nothing but canines and fangs, shoulders curling tensely. “ _That’s_ the hunter who’s been murdering us supernaturals!!!”

Amethyst’s aggression was temporarily stilled as she noticed the looks passed between Lapis and Peridot, standing up straight and cocking an eyebrow at Peridot. “You knew.”

“Whaaat…?!” Peridot stuttered, fidgeting nervously with her hands. “No, I—… Lapis, you—? Oh my gosh… I can’t believe you…!!”

Lapis shrugged from the doorway, but by the look of things, Peridot could tell she was incredibly nervous. Without thinking, Peridot placed herself firmly between the doorway where Lapis stood and Amethyst, mouth running away from her as she held her hands out haltingly.

“Amethyst _please_ she’s not a bad person, she’s changed, she’s—!!”

Amethyst wasn’t listening, eyes blazing as she stared down Lapis. “I’m gonna crush your fucking skull like a balloon you fucking psychopath!!”

The werewolf advanced, expecting to shove past Peridot effortlessly. Instead, the vampire stiff-armed her, stopping her in her tracks. Amethyst turned her furious glare to the blonde, grabbing a hold of the arm stopping her in preparation to throw Peridot aside. Instead, Peridot stuck out her other arm and gave Amethyst a resounding shove, sending the werewolf stumbling back.

Peridot glared, not a hint of apprehension left in her posture or her visage, light from the streetlamps catching her eye and reflecting off the back of retina’s tapetum in a faint red glow.

“Don’t you _dare_ touch her.”

“Peridot—” Lapis’ voice was strained and awfully quiet.

“How could you!?” Amethyst sobbed in utter betrayal, voice spilling over with raw emotion. “P, she _murders_ supernaturals, like _us_ , just for existing!! You can’t tell me you’re going to defend her!! Peri, does she even know what you are!? She’ll kill you! She’ll kill us all if given the chance!!!!”

Peridot watched her friend’s meltdown with a stone-cold expression just barely betraying her concern. “Amethyst please… you need to calm down… that last thing we need is you—”

“Me _WHAT!?_ ” Amethyst snarled, eyes having turned a terrifying shade of yellow, body stiffening at unnatural angles. “If it takes me transforming to get at this _BITCH_ , then _SO BE IT!!_ ”

If Amethyst had any more to say, the words were cut short, buried beneath an absolutely blood-curdling howl that tore from her throat, body beginning to contort and change, gruesome both to watch and to listen to the sound of her bones crunching and muscles twisting all together.

“ _Jesus_ …!” Lapis gasped in horror from the doorway. “Peri, get inside…!!!”

Peridot shook her head, not taking her eyes off of Amethyst for a second. “You go on ahead. I can handle this.”

“Peri this is _NOT THE TIME FOR YOUR DEATH WISH…!!_ ” Lapis sobbed pleadingly.

“Hey Lapis….” Peridot pulled her eyes away to look at the blue haired girl, unable to help but smile at the sight of her, all dolled up from her date. “I’ll be fine. Promise…”

A deafening snarl drew the vampire’s attention back to the fully transformed werewolf, a hideously mutated wolf-esque creature more than twice the size of even the largest of Timberwolves, perfectly white fur catching the light, yellow eyes boring into Peridot’s very soul.

“Amethyst,” Peridot sighed impatiently. “Let’s take this to the woods, away from society, alright..?”

As if in response, the werewolf lunged, jaws open, at Peridot’s face. Without so much as blinking, the vampire threw a hook hard and fast into the creature’s skull, sending it right into the ground and skidding through the grass. Peridot breathed heavily, adrenaline hitting her mind like a firework as she rolled her shoulders, mentally prepping from what was certainly shaping up to be a beating for the both of them. Amethyst turned her snarling features towards the blonde, growling and salivating fiercely. Peridot smirked, hissing in mocking reply.

The creature was on its feet, racing towards Peridot in the blink of an eye. And just as quick, Peridot was running down the street, away from the college town and towards the woodlands that shouldered up to the edge of the little suburban community.

For as fast as Peridot was with her heightened vampire strength and speed, Amethyst as a fully transformed werewolf was just a hair faster, a fact that was quite clear as two massive clawed paws hit Peridot in the back and took her down in the middle of the street, the two of them tumbling across the asphalt at a painful velocity. Peridot scrambled to her feet, only to jump backward and hit the ground again as a pair of razor-toothed jaws came snapping to slice her in two.

“Ames,” Peridot panted, hurrying back to her feet before the creature could realize it missed its prey. “If you can hear me in there, it’d be cool if you could stop this and talk it out…”

Two eyes found the vampire to the tune of a snarl, the only answer Peridot would be getting from the savage beast. She took off running again, making a point of zig-zagging to keep from getting taken down again.

Th distance from Lapis’ house to the woodlands was impossibly far, and even as fast as she was covering ground, Peridot knew she wouldn’t be able to sprint the full way. Already, her wine-soaked stomach had begun to protest to all the movement, triggering her gag reflex more than a few times. The only thing that kept the vampire running was the growl of the werewolf coming from far too close behind her, its ragged hot pants ghosting sickly warm on Peridot’s back. Not to mention the adrenaline saturating her bloodstream.

A well-timed zag bought Peridot a little bit of time, the werewolf lunging to tackle her and missing as the vampire dodged at just the right moment. Peridot almost cried in relief as she passed West 20th Street, the last intersection before the street she was running on deadened into the thick forest that surrounded the city in its entirety. Her feet had no sooner gone from scraping across the asphalt to crunching in the grass and underbrush before she was taken down, pushed off her feet once more and sent plummeting down a steep slope. The tumble left the already exhausted and nauseous Peridot with a spinning head, the scream of instincts the only thing that just barely convinced her to raise her head in the first place and try and spot the werewolf.  The claws flashed out of nowhere, digging into the skin and flesh of Peridot’s arms as the creature pinned her to the ground, foaming saliva dripping from its mouth and soaking the vampire’s hair. With all the adrenaline, the pain was dampened, but even so Peridot couldn’t help but cry out helplessly from the pain that still managed to register in her brain.  In a moment of quick thinking, the blonde drew up her legs and kicked up into the beast’s chest, managing to send it flying from on top of her.

Blood gurgling up out of her arms and puddling on the ground, dizziness starting to overwhelm her mind, Peridot formed one last ditch plan, staring down the werewolf and channeling all her focus onto the connection between their locked gazes.

“Stop right there!” Peridot commanded, voice trembling and hiccupped by her heavy breathing.

The werewolf didn’t hesitate for a second, beginning to circle Peridot and look for an opening to finish her off. Peridot straightened up, glaring intensely, taking in a deep breath.

“I said,” she yelled angrily. “ _STOP, RIGHT, THERE!_ ”

The words were scarcely out of her mouth, and the beast stopped dead in its tracks, doing little more than glaring and growling. The connection was obvious to Peridot, as it drained her mental strength as quickly as sand in a sieve; she ended up collapsing to her knees, but she maintained the connection nevertheless.

“You _will_ run off into these woods and take a nap, and you are not to wake until morning!” Peridot’s voice practically boomed in the little valley they had ended up in.

The werewolf’s obedience was slow, turning tail with a clear reluctance before dashing off into the ink-black forest, the sound of its heavy footsteps fading into the distance until not even Peridot and her heightened hearing could catch their sound any longer.

When the coast seemed entirely clear, Peridot struggled to her feet, met with a wave of unbearable lightheadedness as she stood. She pushed the feeling down, turning to the steep slope down which she had fallen, attempting to climb back out. But it couldn’t be done; any use of her arms was pointless, the slightest effort of the muscles causing pain so blinding it nearly tugged Peridot full-speed into unconsciousness. Exhaustion was quick to zap what little energy was left from the vampire, who had barely enough strength left to walk slowly to a tree, sitting down at its base and propping herself up, reaching into her pants for her phone. The empty pockets reminded her that the device had fallen out onto the floor when she had been lounging on the couch. There was little left to do but fight off the impending darkness of unconsciousness, but even that took more strength than the vampire had left to give.

She leaned her head back against the tree, managing only a strangled little sob and a pair of tears racing down her cheeks as the darkness overtook her.

There was light, winking in the utter blackness, leaking in from somewhere. That’s when Peridot realized her returning consciousness, realized that the light was coming from outside her closed eyelids. She blinked awake, mind in an untouchable haze, body so numb it might as well not have been there. The light, she realized far too sluggishly, was coming from between the barren branches of the trees. The dawn was upon her, the soft sleepy rays of sunshine only managing to miss her because of the ditch she was down in. It wouldn’t be long, the vampire realized with another fresh wave of horrified tears, before the light would flood the ditch too, and she would be left to suffer a not-quick-enough and unbelievably painful death of sun poisoning. She shut her eyes again, hoping to slip back into unconsciousness. If she was going to die, it may as well be painlessly in her sleep.

She was slipping away, consciousness lifting from her mind, when her ears caught the softest hint of a sound, a sound that seemed to resemble her name. It was followed shortly thereafter by a louder sound, that of footsteps in the grass and leaves and twigs of the underbrush. The voice came again, louder still, almost distinct. Peridot frowned, trying to focus on the words, trying to keep from slumber just a moment longer…

“Fuck…! Fuck _fuck!!_ ” Lapis cried in unhinged terror, eyes roving the sickening wounds on the unconscious blonde, hands grappling at Peridot’s freezing cold face. “It’s gonna be okay Peri… _Jesus_ … Peri I’m so sorry… I’m so _so_ sorry…!!”

Still swearing an endless stream of panicked curses, Lapis retrieved the thick blanket she had brought with her, covering the blonde with it and lifting her bridal style with surprising strength, climbing the slope with sure-footed ease and hurrying to her car parked at the edge of the woods.

Peridot felt herself being carried, but she was too far gone to come back to herself, receding mentally back into the cold abyss.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really wanna hear your thoughts on this one guys! Predictions, theories, hopes, fears, LAY IT ALL OUT FOR ME!! :D


	19. Side Effects

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot finds herself in a dream and wonders if she'll ever wake up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UPDATE 5/22!!!!
> 
> BET YOU THOUGHT YOU'D HEARD THE LAST OF ME!!!!!! MWAHAHAHAHAAA!!!  
> Hey guys!!! I feel awful for leaving you all in the dark so long, so first off sorry about that!!! Secondly, Chp 20 is on its way!! I've been working on it on and off, but I'm a lil rusty after that hiatus. So I'm taking my time with it to make sure when Blood Lust returns, it will be as polished and satisfactory as you all hope it'll be!! I am working like... 5 days a week though, mostly full-day shifts. So bear with me. CHAPTER 20 IS COMING, EVEN IF IT TAKES A HUMAN SACERFISE OR THREE TO GET IT FINISHED!!! ;)
> 
>    
> Old Update (sometime in April idk):  
> Hey guys, quick note:
> 
> The next chapter may be a little while. School's getting rather hectic as things head for a close at the end of April. Not to mention I find myself in some awful writers block atm and just don't feel like I can write even in my free time.
> 
> Don't worry; I'm not abandoning Blood Lust or anything like that. Just give me time.
> 
> Thanks for you understanding and continued support!!!! :)

The club smelled unbearably of booze and sweat and marijuana smoke, packed from wall to wall with bodies, talking loudly, maneuvering sluggishly with drinks held up over the heads, falling all over each other in a collective sort of drunkenness. Peridot hugged the wall, a look plastered to her face so dark and deterring that nobody so much as even bumped into her as the crowd shifted and breathed as a unit. Eyes rimmed with eyeliner, black tank top hugging to her shape, torn up black skinny jeans constricting her legs, hair reeking of product, breath bitter with the hint of alcohol, fingers gripping white to something strong and unbearable in her left hand, right hand tucked firmly into one of her pockets. She took a shaky gulp of the concoction in a red solo cup, practically writhing at the unbearable taste in her mouth followed by the miserable burn down her throat and ending in agonized protest from her stomach. But she was just beginning to feel it, the somewhat floaty sensation of the alcohol, the knots in her brow starting to loosen, the warmth pouring off her cheeks. Peridot didn’t want to lose that, even if it meant torturing herself with the drink.

It hadn’t taken her very long to realize she was dreaming. The eyeliner is what tipped her off. That, and the clubs she reluctantly frequented over the summer had never been without someone puking a river somewhere where everyone was forced to see. It was either a dream or some special kind of hell, but Peridot had her money on the former. The crowd shuffled in front of her, parting as someone can pushing their way through.

“Yo P! Got you another screwdriver!” Amethyst spoke sluggishly, face totally flushed and eyes totally spacey as she stumbled to the wall and leaned heavily, a drink in either hand. Peridot looked her up and down, trying to decide if Dream-Amethyst was dating her or not. She counted the werewolf’s ear-piercings and found three in each ear; she had three in each before they started dating, got a fourth after their breakup, and during their time together…

“Ames, are your nips pierced..?” Peridot asked dryly, eyeing her drink and trying to calculate just how many more unpleasant mouthfuls were left to take.

“Don’t tell me you wanted us to get those _together_ …” Amethyst giggled, leaning forward unsteadily and planted a teasing kiss on the vampire’s lips.

Peridot’s breath hitched in shock, her nose screwing up disdainfully. “Do you mind…? I’m pretty fucking sure I’m dreaming and I’d rather you _not_.”

She leered at the baffled werewolf. “It’s your fault by the way. You fucking mauled me. Least you could do is apologize on behalf of your real self.”

“Aw man,” Amethyst slurred, taking a deep drink from her coke and rum. “I’m real damn sorry, _mi vida_ …”

Peridot took one last long gulp of her drink, crushing the cup in her fist. “Forgiven. It was my fault anyway… I should’ve—… I should’ve _talked_ to you… it was stupid of me to think I could keep it from you forever…. I should’ve known you’d find out, one way or another…”

“So…” Amethyst sighed through her nose, the wheels in her head turning almost visibly. “If this is a dream… I’m not real..? None of this is…?”

Peridot shrugged, tossing her cup onto the ground. “It baffles me how fast you always seem to come to terms with that…”

“You dream of me a lot, huh _chica_?” Amethyst inquired smugly.

Peridot didn’t look at her, feeling rather lost in her own thoughts. “Yeah. For good reason…” She turned her gaze to Amethyst, drinking in the sight of her miserably. “You used to mean the world to me…”

“What happened…? To us…?” Amethyst asked genuinely around the rim of her solo cup, poised for a drink.

Peridot pulled her eyes away and down to the floor. “I realized I didn’t mean nearly as much to you…”

Amethyst hummed in understanding, looking away to the rest of the club. “Yeah, that sounds about right…”

“Not to be _presumptuous_ ,” Peridot cut in a little angrily. “But what the fuck is your problem!? You _hounded_ me for weeks, refused to spend so much as a _minute_ away from me… I-I-I moved in!! To your one-person apartment, Ames!! I couldn’t even so much as _look_ at strangers without you getting all jealous about it! Did you know when you were pissed at me, you didn’t say a fucking word!! You just made me a cup of tea and waited for me to explode in nonspecific apology! I can’t even so much as _look_ at a cup of tea nowadays without feeling _sick_ with anxiety, let alone _drink tea_!! _FUCK YOU, Amethyst!!! I used to love tea!!_ ”

Peridot laughed bitterly, but the sound was awfully close to a sob. “And then one day it’s just… ‘ _I’m just not feeling it… let’s see other people_.’ I had to move out the same day. And it _really fucking hurt_ , still hanging out with you, still having to hear your voice and see your face and know that it meant next to nothing to you. That I was just some—… some long term fuck buddy… some flustered little nerd for you to toy around with until I was too _boring_ and too _serious_ , a-and—…”

“So I’m not even your friend anymore…? In the real world..?” The sympathy in Amethyst’s tone felt like knives in Peridot’s stomach.

“You’re my _best_ friend,” Peridot almost laughed again, realizing the absurdity of it all. “Maybe it’s fucked up, but you still mean everything to me. It’s not in the same way as it once was… but I think it’s better the way it is now. We were _never_ going to work… an arrogant-as-shit werewolf with commitment issues and well…” She snorted. “Me and _my_ endless list of issues…”

“Not to mention all your secrets,” Amethyst chuckled wistfully.

Peridot bristled. “I don’t—… I have like… _three or four_ secrets…! “

“I’m just saying… we both had a lot to throw at each other… it’s no wonder it didn’t work out…”

Peridot sighed in agreement, taking her second screwdriver from Amethyst’s outreached hand and chugging down as much as she could stomach before her gag reflex through a fit and nearly ejected all the contents of her stomach onto the club floor.

“I need some water…” Peridot mumbled, more to herself than to anyone, not awaiting Amethyst’s reply as she pushed off the wall and shouldered her way into the crowd and fought her way to the bar.

The drunks gave way with only the slightest push, and the bitches threw their dirty looks from behind their make-up-caked features as Peridot tried to edge around their little gaggles. She reached the bar without too many lingering looks, squeezing her way between two drunk guys asking for more drinks. The vampire waited more or less patiently for the bartender to take notice of her, her thoughts drifting again as she thought back to her real life, reminding herself that she still might be in some oddly college-esque sector of hell, doomed to spend an eternity drinking herself sick and avoiding all the hungry-eyed frat boys. A true hell indeed.

She thought far too painfully of Lapis. She wondered how long she had been out. She wondered if Lapis was safe. She wondered if Lapis’ date with whoever-the-fuck was still on…

“Hey bloodsucker!!”

Peridot turned on her own time, casually flickering her eyes across the crowd until someone presented themselves, Hawaiian short-sleeved dress shirt, salmon colored pants, a sarcastically charming smile plastered on an All-American face, backed up by a half dozen snickering drunken clones of himself.

“You like sucking blood so much, why don’t you suck on this dick!”

Peridot rolled her eyes amidst the high-pitched laughter of the frat boy and his posse, muttering about cleverness and the distinct lack of it beneath her breath as she walked over and nailed the guy with a vicious punch right to his pretty face. The crunch of his skull fracturing and the squelch of all those little facial muscles snapping brought the whole club to a collective silence, blood pooling in the crater that was the boy’s face before he even hit the ground. Peridot shrugged over the corpse, the very picture of patronizing innocence.

“You’re lucky I’ve got more self-control in the real world, or I’d hunt you down and do this to you for real.”

The moment of shock passed, and in its place came outrage manifesting as a gaggle of frat boys with fists held up. Peridot held her ground, praying that the beating would force her awake, and not instead displace her into some other oddly specific plane of hell. Being stuck in a lecture hall for all eternity was most certainly worse than the club. The fist came at her with blinding speed, the impact bringing with it a blinding explosion of pain in her skull.

She came out of the dream with a sharp intake of air, all her senses swimming in grogginess, heart trying to beat its way deafeningly out of her chest, soaked in fine coat of cold sweat.

Peridot almost instantly tried to sit up, hug onto herself, find comfort in her own physical contact, but her motions were stunted, whole body incredibly stiff and all her limbs numb and ridden with static. She tried again, this time realizing her arms—splayed out at full wingspan—could only lift a few inches before coming to a jolting stop; the jingle of handcuffs and the bite of the cold metal into her wrists very telling. Peridot was most certainly about to keep straining against the handcuffs until either the metal snapped or her hands sliced clean off, but a warm hand on her exposed stomach stilled her upon contact.

“Peri…” Lapis voice was soft with mourning, sitting beside wherever the vampire was laying prostrate. “You’re awake…”

“Lapis…!!” The blonde panted, growing increasingly panicked not only from being restrained, but from an unshakeable sense of dizziness and lightheadedness plaguing her mind, her vision unusually blurry as she tried desperately to blink the blue-haired girl into focus. “What the hell is going on..!?!”

“Sweetheart, you just about died on me…” Lapis’ voice was severely strangled but impending tears, curling her fingers into a ball over Peridot’s naval. “I didn’t know what else to do, I-I-I—…”

Peridot heard her words loud and clear, understood each word on its own, but somehow they all got jumbled before she could put together the sentence’s meaning; the confusion did very little to sooth the festering sense of panic. “Lapis…” She sobbed brokenly as her heart beat unbearably loud on her ears and a wave of nausea consumed her. “Lapis, _help_ …”

The blonde strained against her handcuffs again, feeling a sharp pinch in the crook of her elbow as she did. She rolled her head over to stare at the sight of the discomfort, staring intensely for a very long couple of seconds before she recognized what she saw: an IV, the tube of which trailed lazily back to a drip of some kind Peridot couldn’t hold in focus. As she stared and blinked in frustration, Lapis voice droned on outside of her sphere of attention, her words reaching Peridot subconsciously at intervals.

“…works for the same employer as me, for hunters in the field. If you botch a job, last thing you need is to check yourself into a hospital to see a _real_ doctor, and risk a police report getting filed…

“…still had his info, so I called him instead. Last thing we need is word getting back to HQ if Jasper went and reported my insubordination…

“…couldn’t tell him, obviously… I couldn’t be certain he’d have saved you if he knew what you are…

“…had to cauterize the ones on your arms when the stitches wouldn’t hold… he put you on a morphine drip after, saying you’d be in a shit ton of pain…”

The mention of the opiate caught Peridot’s attention like a fish to a hook, a jolt of fear racing up her spine as she fixed Lapis with a stare of raw terror. “ _Morphine…!?!_ ”

Lapis looked to the blonde, on her feet the instant she caught the look in Peridot’s eyes, everything falling into place real damn fast. “Yeah..?”

That was it. Peridot wasn’t breathing anymore. “ _I-I-I can’t—…_ not _morphine_ , Lapis… _please no!!!_ ”

The words were scarcely out of Peridot’s mouth before Lapis was at the IV, unhooking it swiftly, hovering over the blonde with a stormy expression of concern before she settled in up by her head, dark eyes boring into the vampire’s very soul as they watched like a hawk crossed with a mother hen.

Several minutes past before Peridot managed to fight her breathing into something resembling normal, the nausea swooping in and out in waves, her heart still straining in her chest to beat at its heightened pace, cobwebs of confusion still cluttering her mind as the whole room seemed to tilt on an angle. Slowly, she realized that Lapis was holding onto her hand, squeezing it in gentle reassurance. Peridot turned her head, blinking her unfocused eyes to look at the uncertain shape of Lapis’ soft face, her messy blue hair, her deeply upset blue-grey eyes…

“Are you okay…?” Lapis asked softly, though unable to keep the edge off her voice.

“N-No…” Peridot managed difficultly, mouth feeling like a desert. “H-H-How long w-was I on that stuff…?”

“Two days…” Lapis answered with quiet dread.

“Two days…!?” Peridot’s voice whined with acute fear, her face darkening and brow scrunching up. “How long have I b-been out…?!”

Lapis hesitated, voice and expression growing ever more plagued with worry. “Five days…”

Peridot choked on her own breath, panic and nausea hitting her in one hell of a double whammy. “Oh fuck… oh _F-FUCK_ …!!!”

“Peri, talk to me…!”

“Lapis, I-I-I’m dying…!” Peridot screamed softly to the two of them, the whole ordeal beginning to feel more and more like an out of body experience as the room continued to shift and her brain continued to be impossibly bogged down.

“Y-You’re not dying,” Lapis reassured with a lack of confidence. “The doctor said you’d make a full recovery…”

“The comas!!” Peridot wheezed, beginning to fight the handcuffs again. “They’re getting longer! They’ll _keep_ getting longer until I go under for an eternity..!! Unless, I—” She cut herself short, paranoia snagging the words right from out of her mouth.

“Unless you _what_!?” Lapis exclaimed hurriedly, squeezing Peridot’s hand a little more.

Peridot’s eyes flashed over to Lapis, a twitch flickering in her cheek, voice sober and utterly quiet. “I need a blood bath.”

Lapis mood took something of a three-sixty, disgust etching into her visage. “Excuse you?”

Peridot nodded furiously. “Forty gallons. The same stuff from the store that I drink. I gotta soak in it. And then go under and just… _drown…_ ” Her voice trailed off as her expression turned awfully vacant, eyes fixed on a point across the room.

“Peri, honey, I’m not sure this is the best idea,” Lapis crooned pointedly. “You don’t seem like you’re… all there… right now…”

Peridot snapped her bloodshot eyes back to Lapis face, finding something there that made her bristle angrily from head to toe, voice hiking up an octave in indignation, wrists straining against the handcuffs again. “I’m _dead serious_ Lapis!! This happened to my mom’s second cousin!!! Or…” The blonde’s mood changed like the flip of a switch, laying limp as she sought her befuddled head for answers. “Or was it her sister’s husband’s brother…?”

Her attention jolted back to reality as Lapis’ hands cradled either side of her face, the woman’s eyes all watery and worried hovering just out of reach, voice utterly surreal, as if it wasn’t truly coming from her mouth, but instead from inside Peridot’s own head.

“Sweetheart, if it’ll make you feel better, then I’ll get you that blood. All forty gallons of it.”

There a moment of clarity, so brief and fleeting as Peridot lived in it. All there was in the room, in the whole world, in the entire universe of her drugged up mind, was Lapis’ words. The blonde heard them, understood them, processed them, and suddenly felt a huge weight of uncertainty settle into the pit of her stomach.

“Yes please…” Peridot breathed, cheeks flushing quite red, tone seeming certain but her words lacking the vindication they had just been saturated in.

“Alrighty then,” Lapis sighed unhappily, flashing a soft smile down as Peridot before leaning in and kissing her sweetly, a little too hungrily to be chaste, a little too lingering to be offhanded. She pulled away after a few moments, but she hovered just inches from the blonde’s thoroughly reddened face. “Guess it’s time to dry up the college funds, yeah?”

Peridot watched distractedly as Lapis walked about the room, gathering her purse and her jacket and her keys. The blonde was slowly starting to figure out where she was as she made jumbled observations about the room around her: it was the living room of Lapis’ little house, Peridot herself lying flat on her back on the coffee table by the couch, hands cuffed to the stubby little table legs.

“I’ll be back as quick as I can,” Lapis announced from somewhere Peridot hasn’t been expecting, starting the vampire back to a better grip on reality.

“ _Wait_!! Lapis…!” Peridot stuttered hastily, shaking her hands so as to make the cuffs jingle dissonantly. “Could you… maybe… uncuff me first..?”

“Oh! Right!!” Lapis walked back over to the center of the living room, fishing a tiny key from her pocket as crouching down to unlock the handcuffs’ steely grip. Peridot drew the first freed hand into her chest as if to cradle it, sitting upright as the second came free and holding both her hands close over her heart, fingers quite numb and wrists achingly sore. Lapis slender fingers offered gentle touches to the blonde’s hands, massaging the life back into the digits as Peridot looked on in dazed partially-attentive wonder, blushing as she always did beneath Lapis’ touch. The vampire looked up, finding Lapis resting one leg folded up on the coffee table and the other hanging over the table’s edge to balance on the ground, the blue-haired girl practically in Peridot’s lap, face down-turned and serious with the utmost concern and concentration, bangs falling into her eyes, messy hair curling up around her ears and spilling over them, the flush of her cheeks so utterly pastel and lifelike it made Peridot sharply aware of her own icy skin, colored only by the proximity of her lover… _roommate_ … roommate..?

“Lapis…” Peridot’s breath hardly escaped her lungs, rasping into her voice gently.

She didn’t look up, still rubbing the numbness out of Peridot’s hands. “There was no reason to keep you handcuffed after the wounds were sealed up… I should have taken those off a whole day ago… I’m so sorry, Peri…”

There was a moment of painful hesitation, but Peridot pressed timidly. “ _Lapis_ …”

Lapis looked at her, totally misreading the painful longing she saw in those baby blue eyes. “ _Oh!!_ Right! I should get going… get back with that blood, so you can do that blood bath thingy… or whatever…”

Peridot stuttered, but Lapis was already out of her lap, of the coffee table, already rushing for the door. “You’re phone’s right there on the arm of the couch! Call me if you need me!! And don’t move around too much until I get back!”

Peridot opened her mouth again, only to shut it at the slam of the front door coming to an abrupt close. She sat there numbly, still trying to process the last minute in greater clarity as the sound of Lapis’ Mustang convertible roaring to life shook the very foundation of the tiny little house, only to be left quaking as the car roared off down the street and become little more than a distant mumble.

Peridot was a long while before her thoughts caught back up to the present moment, focusing on one very important detail: the bloodbath. In the drugged up state of her mind, Peridot couldn’t decipher what was totally true from what had been influenced by the morphine, racking her brain painfully to remember if bathing in blood was a legitimate old-world vampire remedy, or just an iconic scene from some old horror movie engrained in the depths of her film-trivia memory. She knew _exactly_ how she could solve the mystery once and for all, but her stomach churned into knots at the idea, anxiety flaring like a forest fire in a drought, chest constricting around her already fatigued lungs.

She had to find out for certain. She grabbed the phone from off the couch and dialed a number she knew by heart, but didn’t keep in her contacts.

Peridot crawled her way onto the couch as she listened to the phone ring, sounding distorted in her ear as her stomach rolled inside her sickeningly, drawing her knees to her chest as laying on her side as she trembled through the pain.

The line clicked live, a terrifyingly menacing voice speaking through the other end like a megaphone. “You are not to call this number ever again or you will be permanently silenced.”

Peridot rolled her eyes impatiently. “Look, I know this is Societatis Autem Strutionum. I need to speak with your leader.”

“Our great and wise leader is _not_ taking calls _now_ or _ever_ —!!”

Peridot grumbled under her breath. “For the love of—…” She spoke up, trying not the let the desperation creep into her voice as a wave of dizziness hit her like a freight train. “Look, _I’M HIS SISTER_ , okay!? I need to speak to—”

Static sounded sporadically at the other end as the phone jostled from one set of hands into another, a silence finally residing over the call before a new voice spoke, completely unnatural in its lack of emotion and yet somehow sounding bone-chillingly pleased.

“Peridot. Sister. I didn’t think you’d ever call. Considering I don’t ever want to have to _smell_ you within a hundred mile radius, let alone hear the sound of your blasphemous voice in my ear.”

Peridot’s jaw tensed. “Finnian. Look, this isn’t what you think. I have a question. _Just one_.”

“Oh…?” The soft warmth to the steely voice was about as utterly surprised as her brother would ever sound. “Peridot, the queen of knowing everything and being eternally correct… has a question? For me?”

A wave of pain raced up the vampire’s arm, hitting her brain and almost causing her to cry out, turning her head to stare at the four nasty burns that sealed up what had once been gouged from werewolf claws, gaping all bright pink in red and inflamed.

“I’ve gone under twice this month… you know, the vampire recovery coma thing…? And they seem to be getting longer and longer in duration…”

“Deary me,” Finnian tsked blatantly. “Haven’t you been keeping up with your daily meditation..? Clear the mind, redirect the energies, open the chakras…”

“No…” Peridot admitted huffily. “But—”

“Then please tell me you’re enrolled and involved with a bi-weekly anger management seminar, at the very least..?”

Peridot frowned intensely. “I _don’t_ need to—”

“Oh?” He interrupted, a rumble of a laugh echoing in his throat. “Then you’ve been drinking very regularly, yes? Every day and every night, at 3 PM and 3 AM sharp..?”

Peridot took a minute to reply, the effects of the morphine dying down but the pain of her injuries getting cranked up to eleven. “No, not exactly…”

“Ah, yes, excuse me. Of _course_ you wouldn’t utilize such primitive methods any longer, _dearest_ sister. You administer intravenously then, correct? Twice monthly? Two liters? I applaud you. It is much better than the terribly _ancient_ tradition of oral consumption…”

“Wait, you can _do that!?!_ ” Peridot squawked into the phone, totally thrown for a loop.

Finnian’s dry laughter made Peridot feel utterly stupid. “Not exactly. I may or may not have been totally messing with you. You being such an _imbecile_ and all…”

“Finnian!!” Peridot snapped in frustration, pinching the bridge of her nose as she grit her teeth against the searing waves of pain. “A blood bath!! _Is that a real thing_!?”

“I don’t know, is it…?”

“ _FINNIAN!!!_ ”

He laughed again, this time in something close to a giggle. “Oh yes, that’s right. It _is_ a legitimate thing. An old remedy, ancient as time itself. A cure-all for the vampire strong enough to endure, but be wary of the side effects.”

Peridot shuddered. “Side effects..?”

“Just saying… if the extent of your problems are pesky week-long comas when you get the shit rightfully kicked out of you, I wouldn’t go diving straight for the bloodbath.”

“Oh…” Peridot couldn’t help but feel utterly guilty at sending Lapis to gather all that blood, know realizing the insanity of the request.

“You know something else about a blood bath?”

Peridot blinked, a little surprised her brother was being even minimally helpful. “What..?”

Finnian’s voice lowered to little more than a guttural growl. “ _It’s going to be one when I come looking for you, you no-good murderous fucking disgrace!!_ ”

“Okay, love you too, byyyee!!” Peridot hung up the phone faster than humanly possible, heart pounding in her chest from the threat. For all she knew, her brother could be halfway around the world. He could also be halfway down the block. There was no telling with Finnian.

There was nothing but pain and dread and the lingering side-effects of the morphine for the greater part of the hour. Peridot lay in a ball on the couch, experimenting with various ways to position her arms in hopes of finding one that reduced the discomfort radiating from the burned-shut gashes. The longer she went without the morphine pumping directly to her head, the more Peridot realized just how wildly irrational she had been upon waking. A blood bath? The very thought made her shutter in horrible self-loathing. What kind of a person _desires_ such a thing..? She curled up into a tighter ball and tried not to think too awful much about it.

Lapis arrived home shortly, pushing past the front door that shut with a house-shaking slam and making a beeline for where she left Peridot. The blonde was only half-conscious on the couch, in a daze but kept awake by the unbearable pain.

“Hey can you sit up?” Lapis asked quietly, though her tone a little on the demanding side. “I got you something…”

Peridot eyed her mournfully from where she lay. “Lapis, about the blood bath…”

Lapis shook her head, sitting on the couch and patting the cushions for Peridot to sit up and join her. “The blood’s in my car, taking up every fucking inch of available space. This is different. Sit up.”

Gingerly, Peridot did as she was told, holding her arms in close to her body as she looked at Lapis, then began to _really_ look at her.

“Here,” Lapis sighed, unscrewing the cap off of a pill bottle and dumping out a single pill. “I got you some Vicodin. Is that alright for you to be taking..?”

Peridot nodded, holding out her hand and watching Lapis deliver the oval-shaped pill before tossing it back into her mouth and swallowing it down.

Lapis watched, concern dark in her eyes again. “How you feeling…?”

“I’ve been better,” Peridot sighed quietly, turning her eyes to look at Lapis again. “I—… I’ve missed you…”

Lapis couldn’t help a half-smile. “I wasn’t even gone a full hour…”

“No..! I mean…” Peridot blushed, forcing the timid words off her tongue. “I’ve missed _being_ with you… whatever we had before, I-I-I miss _that_ …”

The smile disappeared from Lapis’ face in an instant. “Peri… you’re high off the morphine…”

Peridot shook her head resolutely. “No, this is the clearest my head’s been in a while…”

She looked to Lapis again, realizing with a sudden gush of emotion that she knew exactly what she needed. Not a blood bath, not her brother’s advice, not anything other than the intimate company of the one and only Lapis Ann Lazuli.

“Lapis…” Peridot got off the couch to come down onto one knee, taking a moment to collect herself before looking back up at a very startled Lapis. “Would you… w-w-would—…. Lapis, would you go out with me…? A-A-As my girlfriend…?”

Lapis rolled her eyes. “I’ll think about it…” She looked to Peridot out of the corner of her upturned eyes, almost laughing at how utterly crushed the blonde looked, like a child who got ice cream only to have a seagull swoop in and snatch it away. “Peri, of _course_ I’ll be your girlfriend!”

Peridot’s face lit up so bright the sun had a moment of self-consciousness, even the throbbing pain she was in taking a back seat to her unbridled joy. “Really???”

Lapis smiled despite herself. “Really, you nerd.”

Peridot launched herself back up onto the couch, almost tackling Lapis in an overzealous kiss. Lapis laughed all smothered and bubbling beneath the embrace, taking over the kiss into something so deviously sensual it had Peridot squeaking in absolute and nearly mortified surprise. It was Lapis who pulled away, still holding Peridot close in her lap.

“So…” The hunter asked tentatively, a little more than distracted at the intense blush running underneath the vampire’s skin. “You still going to take that blood bath…? You know, after I just spent several grand on forty fucking gallons of blood…”

Peridot smiled sheepishly, shrinking down beneath her shoulders. “ _Actually_ … I think I’ll save the blood bath for a rainy day…”

If looks could kill, the look on Lapis’ face would have murdered Peridot a million times over.


	20. Mid-November Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a month of officially dating Lapis, Peridot has no complaints. Until Amethyst gives her something to complain about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHAHAHAHA GUESS WHO'S FINALLY BACK!?!? :D :D :D :D :D
> 
> Can't yet promise consistency with the updates, but I can promise this fic isn't dead! Yeah nope, not even close! In fact, it's just getting good! >:) >:) >:) >:)
> 
> (yeah also still doing some editing but I got really excited and just HAD to post prematurely... sorry not sorry!)

October rolled over into November, and the chilly days turned into frigid ones that threatened to snow before Thanksgiving could come to pass. It was a mid-November morning, crisp sunshine glaring intensely from a pale winter sky but doing little to take the edge off the biting air. Cold seeped into the boards and paneling of the small college-town house with every howling gust of wind, and sunshine splintered its way through the slates of the shut-up blinds on every window, serving as a hundred spotlights for the dust motes that danced a delicate ballet through the stagnant house air. One such beam of light fell on the sleeping face of Peridot Quinn, drawing her up slowly from a deep and restful slumber until her eyes screwed up from the sudden awareness of the light. Consciousness began to trickle in slowly, like sand in an hourglass, and Peridot found herself well rested but reluctant to leave the heavy and warm comfort of the bed. With a yawn and a drowsy grumble, the blonde rolled herself over so her face was smothered in the hair-gel scented embrace of her pillow, arms limp and prostrate at her sides. 

A hand combed its fingers into Peridot’s chaotic bedhead, petting her gently without catching on a single tangle.

“Morning sleepyhead…” A voice murmured pleasantly.

Peridot beamed brighter than the November sun itself, mumbling into her pillow with a voice thick and raspy from sleep. “Morning…”

A month of dating Lapis had seemed like both an eternity and no time at all. Every moment shared together felt as exciting and raw as their first moments, and yet it all felt as if they had been this way—spending almost every minute by the other’s side—for as long as either of them could recall. It was comfortable even though it was new. It was safe even though it was full of possibility. It had taken Peridot practically the full month to grasp the reality of it all, to really start to believe she wasn’t stuck in some wild dream that she would surely wake up from one day. But when she did, life took on a whole new sparkle.

Peridot rolled back over in the bed, this time laying on the side that allowed her to face Lapis. Framed by the light-leaking window, the blue-haired woman looked downright heavenly, tousled blue bedhead framed with gossamer tendrils of sunshine, the white cotton bedsheets tangled around her seeming to glow with a light of their own, her soft sleepy smile radiating a warmth far greater than the winter sun could even feign. Peridot felt her face flush at the sight so beautiful it deserved to hang in every museum in every country around the globe. The blonde stared, unspeaking for a tentative bit longer, wishing she could preserve the image before her eyes if only for a  moment more.

Lapis broke the trance with a bigger smile, pushing herself forward with a steady elbow and kissing the vampire before her. It was soft and tender and surprisingly hungry all at once in the most mind-boggling way. Peridot thought she was flushed before, but the stifling contact of her lips on Lapis’ felt like a rush of midsummer's heat, and her face swarmed with warmth and color accordingly. Lapis pulled back after a lingering few moments, but only enough so that she could rest her forehead on Peridot’s, cold noses bumping into one another as the couple basked in the other’s presence. Peridot absolutely beamed; she adored this side of Lapis. For a cold-blooded killer, the vampire hunter was incredibly affectionate in a very physical sense. When the two of them were alone, there was hardly a moment where Lapis wasn’t holding Peridot’s hand, or leaning into Peridot, or sitting with one of them in the other’s lap. They often ended up little more than a tangle of limbs, but somehow it was never uncomfortable. Somehow, it always seemed to feel utterly and instinctually _right_.

It was intimate moments like these that never failed to remind Peridot, like a thorn in her side, that she knew next to nothing about the woman she now called her girlfriend.

“Not that I don’t love these wordless cuddles…” Peridot began, voice timid and husky from sleep.

Lapis let herself fall back over to her side of the bed, propping her head up on a hand with elbow resting on her pillow. “But you’re wondering when I got home last night…?”

Peridot blushed a little in her ears, not realizing how predictable she was being. “I mean, not that it really matters… it’s just… I was up ‘til 3 before I called it a night… and you still weren’t back yet…”

Lapis shrugged a little, picking up a book that she had left on the nightstand in a tent-like position to preserve her page, having been reading in bed before Peridot stirred and caught her attention. “You know… I was just catching up with the local contacts… trying to see if anyone had heard from Jasper…”

“Ah…” Peridot responded simply, feeling a wave of latent sleepiness wash over her as a yawn bubbled up from her lungs, gulping in the cold morning air. She wiggled her way over to Lapis’ side of the bed, tucking in close to the hunter’s side and feeling the warmth of Lapis’ arm as it wrapped around her shoulders.

“Yeah…” Lapis replied with guilt creeping into her voice, but the subtly of the sound was lost on the half-asleep vampire. “Everyone’s fairly certain she’s still lurking around Empire City…”

Peridot hummed in faint reply, voice murmuring quietly from the realm of fading consciousness. “Who…?”

“Jasper,” Lapis frowned, her answer sounding a bit more curt than she would have liked it to. “You know, the huge hulk of a woman who tried to kill you and now probably wants to kill me…?”

Peridot’s voice came too quiet and too slurred for Lapis to understand little more than: “Misunderstanding…”

Lapis sighed through her nose as she pressed her face into the vampire’s mess of blonde hair, taking in a deep breath of the scents of hair gel and morning dew and candle smoke. She lay there, in the quiet of the late morning, listening as Peridot’s breathing slowed to a steady rhythm, and then slowed beyond that to an inaudible, undetectable ebb and flow of breath. The vampire wasn’t long asleep, Lapis’ arm as her pillow, and already Lapis could feel her growing unnaturally cold. It would have been utterly alarming, had it not happened every single night the two of them had slept in the same bed. The blue-haired woman knew from experience that if she remained where she was for much longer, it would feel as if she were cuddling with a block of ice.

Instead, the vampire hunter slipped free of the vampire and the bed as if she were made of smoke, tucking her book under her arm and making her way out of the bedroom, into the sleep-stagnant house.

A little while later, Peridot opened her eyes, drawn out of her slumber by a baffling lack of oxygen, only to find her girlfriend perched over her on the bed, kissing her tenderly awake.

“Lapis…!” Peridot hissed, the abruptness of her waking throwing her immediately into a poor mood.

The vampire’s complaints were smothered by another kiss, much more pushy and heated than the ones that had drawn her into consciousness. Peridot sought to free her hands from beneath the sheets and use them to reclaim her personal space, but instead found that Lapis had already located them and pinned them with her own hands. However, Peridot hardly had time to realize such a thing before Lapis was already retreating on her own terms, leaning back until she sat herself on the blonde’s waist, hands resting on Peridot’s stomach so that she wouldn’t fall from her perch.

“Get up,” Lapis instructed with a teasing amount of pout. “You’ve slept long enough.”

Peridot glared half-heartedly at the woman crushing her, but the glare backfired as her eyes turned instead to gawking at Lapis’ outfit, a simple yet tight-fitting black crop top beneath an oversized pastel blue flannel shirt, and frayed jean shorts cut so high the pockets hung out below the hem of the shorts, which altogether were hardly visible from Peridot’s angle of a view.

Peridot felt a lopsided smile break past her peeved expression. “I must still be dreaming…”

Lapis snorted rather loudly at the remark, a cheesy grin flashing on her face as she gave a twist and a flirtatious shrug of the shoulder, presenting an exuberant wink. “My my, we’ve got a flatterer on our hands!”

The blonde couldn’t help but laugh at Lapis’ antics, crossing her arms behind her head as she laid back into her voluminous pillow. “You _do know_ Viagra isn’t for women, right…? We might want to rush you to the hospital…”

Lapis eyes twinkled with a dark impishness, the look alone more than enough to shoot a shiver down Peridot’s spine.

“No Viagra,” Lapis gave a little sigh, walking her fingers up Peridot’s torso absentmindedly. “I _did_ start a new book though…”

“Oh yeah…?” Peridot asked, voice cracking as she tried to keep a watchful eye on every last one of her girlfriend’s subtle movements. “Another relationship help book, or..?”

Lapis nodded, her eyes locked in the creases in the bedsheets that outlined Peridot’s body. “Mmhm. This one’s called _So She’s Got Fangs… Now What?_. I thought it’d be cheesy, just going off the title. You know, another one we could read at each other and get a good laugh… but no. It’s quite… _insightful_.”

Peridot raised both her eyebrows in unadulterated surprise. “Oh?? How so..?”

“Well…” Lapis drew her eyes up to stare pointedly at her lover, a smile tweaking at her lips at the sight of just how much her gaze affected the vampire. “There was this section I was leafing through… I got to a page entitled: _7 Vampire-Exclusive Turn-Ons…_ ”

Peridot laughed, a sound that was intended to be all humorous and condescending but instead came out thin and nervous. “They can’t be serious…!”

Lapis shrugged inattentively, eyes shut in a look of indifference. “Only one way to find out.”

The blue-haired woman left her perch on Peridot’s waist, returning instead to hovering over the blonde on her hands and knees, her face suspended above Peridot’s, her smug smile of delighted excitement beaming down onto Peridot’s expression of wide-eyed nervousness. But for all of Lapis’ unhinged zealousness, she waited to make her move.

“May I…?” The wolfishness of her tone, thinly veiled behind forced patience, jolted Peridot’s skin with electric anticipation.

Peridot gave a slight nod, eyes locked intently onto Lapis’ as she swallowed the anxious lump in her throat. “Yes…”

Lapis grinned, lowering to her elbows so that her face was all but touching to Peridot’s. The hunter paused to relish in the deep blush on nervousness-blanched cheeks, in the baby blues that flickered between excitement and unease as they sought to interpret every micro-expression that flashed inadvertently on Lapis’ visage.

Lapis leaned in close until she was breathing in Peridot’s ear, the vampire cringing and squirming with each puff of hot air tickling the shell of her ear. “Let me know if this turns you on, babe…”

Without further ado, Lapis leaned in as if to kiss Peridot’s neck right by the throbbing pulse of her carotid. Peridot arched her neck in anticipation of the doubtlessly rough kiss, but was caught completely off-guard as a whole other sensation entirely came racing up from her neck. In a scramble of confusion and pain and arousal, it took Peridot a full second to realize what Lapis was doing. She hadn’t _kissed_ her neck. Lapis had _bit it_.

Peridot had hardly grasped an understanding of what was going on before she was hit with what she could only describe as an eruption of feral hormones, flooding her senses with the dual need to both submit to Lapis’ assault and to seize dominance over her attacker, all at once. And amidst the barrage of conflicting calls to action pervaded an absolutely mindboggling and gut-wrenching red-hot feeling of sensual arousal.

It all happened in a manner of mere seconds, as Lapis was only able to keep up the biting pressure on Peridot’s neck for a moment or two before she felt utterly ridiculous and like she may have overstepped her boundaries. She pulled away, propping herself back up on her hands to observe Peridot’s reaction expectantly. Needless to say, Lapis was not the least bit disappointed. Peridot had gone from a tense pile of nerves to massively dilated pupils, red hot face, mouth slightly agape in sheer awe, breath sharp and shallow, hand clasped tightly to the bruise on her neck, and body suddenly unable to keep still beneath the strangle of covers.

Lapis grinned hugely. “So… is that a yes..?”

Peridot looked at her intensely, shooting out a hand to try and grab the blue-haired woman and drag her back in for more. Lapis, however, had other plans, dodging the vampire’s efforts with incredible agility, evading several more attempts amidst insuppressible giggles before retreating off of the bed and out of the bedroom. The prospecta of five minutes of extra sleep that Peridot had so desperately wanted upon waking seemed downright objectionable in light of the previous events; the blonde was racing out the bedroom as fast as she could untangle herself from the sheets.

Lapis’ giggling echoed up the stairwell as she disappeared down onto the main floor of the house, Peridot not far behind as she practically fell down the stairs at full speed, vaulting over the last half-dozen steps and sticking the landing in the entry way before zipping back around the corner into the living room. Peridot turned the corner, fully expecting to spot Lapis on the couch, but instead came face to face with an empty room. The total confusion was short lived for the vampire, as Lapis sprung out from where she hid in the corner beside the doorway, muscling the blonde up against the wall out of nowhere. The rough contact with the way set Peridot’s heart beating three times as fast and a million times as loud.

“Looking for me?” Lapis purred, hands like vices on Peridot’s hips, eyes straining to manifest x-ray vision and see past the NASA sleep shirt and alien boxers.

For once, Peridot found herself grinning with all the confidence in the world, fangs out in full force, the smell of Lapis so close and so turned on drowning out all else. “You got that right, hot stuff.”

The whole sentence was hardly out of Peridot’s mouth before her words were snuffed out beneath the hot and heavy kiss, all tongue and teeth and hunger. Lapis’ fingers gripped tighter and together into the blonde’s hips, but the pain only made Peridot feel hotter inside. The vampire’s own hands instinctually found the round of Lapis’ bottom, holding tight as if to let go was to give it up forever. The kiss was too fervent, and no matter how hard either of them puffed air from their noses, the oxygen intake wasn’t enough. Lapis broke the kiss, only to grab Peridot by either thigh and hoist her suddenly into her arms, legs wrapped around waist and steely fingers gripping to thighs and ass. In this position, Peridot found herself marginally taller than her girlfriend, and took full advantage of her newfound height. As Lapis walked the two of them to the couch with sure legs, Peridot snagged herself two fistfuls of hair—the shorter kind that she could find on the very back of Lapis’ inverted bob hairstyle—and tugged the blue-haired woman’s head back, giving the vampire better access to a deeper and more sensual kind of kiss.

As quickly as Peridot had found herself swept off her feet, she now found herself freefalling, landing in the creaking cushions of the thrifted couch and gaining a little air on the resulting bounce. Lapis wasted no time having her hands free, stripping out of her flannel and pulling off her crop top, leaving her in only skin-tight jean shorts and a minimalistic blue bra; she made quite the show out of stripping without seeming to notice to saucer-sized eyes gawking at her from the couch. When the hunter finally looked to her girlfriend, her face was rather serious despite its deeply blushing tones.

“Is this alright…? For now..?”

“For now,” Peridot echoed in a husky voice, suddenly painfully aware that she wasn’t wearing anything beneath her baggy choice of pajamas.

“Don’t worry about it,” Lapis chimed in a tone so confident and easy that it washed away the pinpricks of anxiety beginning to stick in Peridot’s mind, motioning over the blonde’s body. “Only if you want to.”

Peridot gave a nod, and with that, Lapis was upon her again, but this time with even more desire than before, a knee pressing deviously between Peridot’s legs, hands scratching over delicate skin despite the shirt keeping them separate, mouth hot and rough as it gouged hickeys into the vampire’s neck. Peridot moaned both in pleasure and in utter torture, squirming endlessly beneath every last one of Lapis’ desiring, skillful touches. Peridot’s own hands ran over goose-bumped tan skin on her girlfriend’s stomach, legs, back…

Her mind was struck by the sudden and jarring remembrance that she and Lapis had yet to have sex with one another. The remembrance shifted from the pedestal of Peridot’s thoughts, leaving in its stead the burning desire to do just that.

“Lapis…” She began breathlessly, intent as hot and heavy on her voice as her insides felt aching within her.

Lapis pulled up in utter surprise, having to look her girlfriend in the face to confirm the desire she heard in her voice. The blue-haired girl hardly had a moment to register that she had interpreted the intent correctly, before the jarringly loud marimba tone of her phone ringing in the kitchen cut into the moment like a knife through butter.

Lapis sprang up off the couch spewing a dark cloud of colorful swears as she stormed from the living room to the kitchen. Peridot propped herself up on the arm of the couch as she waited and listened, the ringtone getting cut short as Lapis answered the phone, stalking back into the doorway as she listened to the voice on the other end of the line. Peridot watched as her girlfriend’s expression went from one of utter frustration to that of keen and complete interest. Peridot sighed through her persisting fangs, letting her head roll back onto the couch arm, eyes staring at the patterns on the ceiling drywall, feeling the heat of the moment slip past the two of them like a balloon in the wind, no longer within grasp, taking to the clouds…

The vampire took notice of her empty belly that growled out in the silence. She rolled languidly from off the couch, shuffling over to Lapis and gracing her with a little snuggle into her side before continuing into the kitchen.

Breakfast took the form of a grapefruit saturated with sparkling crystals of sugar, courtesy of Lapis and left in plain sight in the fridge, accompanied by half a bag of last night’s popcorn and a quarter of a gallon of O positive. Peridot stared down at the pink triangular sections of fruit housed in the round yellow rind, her spoon poking each piece with disinterest despite her appetite. The hollow aching of her insides took full precedence in her mind, fangs still unsheathed from the lingering whirl of hormones pumping through her bloodstream. She looked up from her food to find Lapis had migrated from the joint doorway of the kitchen and living room, no doubt pacing out her phone call out of sight in the other room. The conversation had to be very one sided, Peridot reasoned mentally, the only sounds out of Lapis was the occasion hum of acknowledgement or a soft “Okay”. Peridot had a sinking feeling that whoever was on the other end of the call was likely Lapis’ boss, or some other authority figure in whatever twisted hierarchy Lapis belonged to as a paid vampire murderer.

Peridot slid her grapefruit aside and pulled the half-empty half-gallon of blood closer, tipping the jug into her mouth and taking a few deep gulps of the viscous deep crimson liquid. Bloodlust took precedence in her mind over physical lust, and with the burning arousal smothered, Peridot was able to turn her focus to sating her appetite.

“Hey sorry…”

Peridot looked up as Lapis stalked into the kitchen, staring at her phone in what could only be called mild disbelief. After a moment, the blue-haired woman pried her eyes back up, looking to her girlfriend apologetically.

“I have to go somewhere…”

Peridot raised her eyebrows, chewing on a spoonful of grapefruit. “Well that’s not vague at all.”

“It’s my lawyer,” Lapis gave up with a heavy sigh, rushing around to gather her purse and coat and boots. “Well, lawyer isn’t the right term… I filed for temporary to indefinite leave from Malachite and she’s supposed to assess my case and either deny or accept my requested leave…”

“Malachite,” Peridot interjected, pushing her breakfast aside. “You never told me what that was. Is that who you work for? Is that who wants all these supernaturals killed?”

Lapis couldn’t help but laugh just a little. “No, not quite…Malachite is— _was_ —Jasper and I. Hunters aren’t allowed to go solo, for many reasons… each duo or team operates under a code name of sorts. It sort of… inspires putting the good of the _team_ above the good of the individuals who make up the team. Look, we can talk about this later… I _really_ have to get going…”

“Sure…” Peridot grumbled, stifling her own voice with another spoonful of sugar-coated grapefruit wedge.

“I _promise_ I’ll make it up to you…” Lapis pleaded, sounding so genuinely hurt that it drew Peridot out from her own brooding mentality. “I love you…”

Peridot slumped down over the table in quite the pout, cheek smooshed into her fist and elbow propping her up at a very steep angle. “Love you too…”

Lapis rushed over, pressing a big sappy kiss into the blonde’s temple, stepping back to smile and admire the sight of her girlfriend a moment longer before sprinting for the front door.

“Bye Peri!!! I’ll be back soon!!” She called back into the house, the door slamming shut behind her hardly a moment afterward.

The vampire heaved a hollow sigh in the quiet moments that followed, appetite lost at the thought of Lapis meeting up with _anyone_ related to the supernatural-murdering syndicate she seemed to be a member of. Abandoning her half-eaten breakfast at the table, Peridot finished the last of the blood in the half-gallon jug, opening up the fridge and breaking the seal on a new half-gallon.

Over the past month, Peridot had found time to redistribute her focus on the various aspects of her life. Still out of a job at The Ruby and The Sapphire—on account of a lack of _trying_ , mind you—and with the autumn semester at ESU drawing nearer and nearer to finals week, the blonde spent much of her free time playing catch-up on the schoolwork and textbook-reading she had largely neglected during the month of October. Today was no exception; with Lapis out and about for an unspecified length of time, Peridot turned her attention to her laptop. She took to the spare bedroom filled with overgrown vegetation for her studies, the room having been reallocated to include two beanbags and a large bookshelf. It was where Lapis and Peridot frequently spent their mornings and afternoons, more often than not reading literature on relationships. Lapis had wasted no expense in ordering every last book that fit in the category of vampire/human relationships, just about filling the new bookshelf with them all. She and Peridot had spent many lovely hours, reading side by side in their beanbags amongst the greenery, sharing passages both helpful and humorous with one another. Lapis was the one who burned through the books like a bat out of hell, trying to learn as much as she could as fast as she could in order to make her relationship with Peridot work as best it can. Peridot marveled at how drastically her girlfriend’s demeanor and attitude seemed to change when dealing with fangs and blood and all manner of strange little vampire quirks Peridot herself was hardly aware of. At first, it was almost artificial, her responses sounding rehearsed or memorized off of a page. But with Peridot urging her that saying or doing the wrong thing was perfectly okay, so long as Lapis was open to listening to Peridot’s suggestions and feelings when the vampire had them to express, Lapis was soon genuinely comfortable with most all of Peridot’s vampire habits and particularities. Peridot, too, learned quite a bit about common human fears and misconceptions surrounding vampires, and did her very best to make Lapis feel informed and comfortable in the relationship. It also helped that the two of them began visiting with Garnet at least once a week for a little couples counseling, or sometimes individual therapy when one or both of them deemed it preferable.

Peridot entered the spare bedroom now, laptop under her arm, glasses retrieved, new half-gallon of blood clutched in her fist, and plopped herself down into Lapis’ beanbag. The fabric smelled like her, like her cherry blossom shampoo, like her burning earthy perfume, like the distinct sweet saltiness of her natural scent. The vampire tried not to picture her girlfriend talking vampire-kill statistics with this “lawyer” of hers, instead opening up the four different programming projects she needed to complete by the end of the week. She plugged in her headphones to the computer and blasted lo-fi hip hop into her ears, praying the music would drown out her worrisome thoughts and grant her the focus she needed to accomplish a month’s worth of work in roughly twenty-four hours.

The worrisome thoughts persisted for ten agonizing minutes, Peridot forcing herself to read the instructions of her projects despite then. However, once she got down to coding, not even the music could disrupt her intense focus. 

The sounds of the front door opening and shutting hardly registered with Peridot, nor did the hours that had flown by the on the computer’s tiny digital clock face. In the time Lapis had been away, the blonde had managed to get a good start on each of the four projects, and had spent the majority of her time chugging away at one of the programs in particular, having every needed line of code written and just the bugs left to weed out. The door to the spare bedroom opened after a minute, causing Peridot to look up from her laptop.

“There you are,” Lapis beamed, her mood having turned unprecedentedly chipper. “Whatchya doin’…? And in _my_ beanbag...!”

The blue-haired woman sauntered over to where the beanbags sat off-center in the room, tossing herself down into the empty beanbag beside Peridot, leaning over to give the blonde a big sloppy kiss on the cheek; Peridot took out an earbud in response.

“Hey,” Lapis grinned, hovering just inches from Peridot’s face. “Guess what.”

Peridot pried her eyes from her laptop screen, adjusting her glasses as she turned to look at Lapis. “What..?”

“Well,” Lapis started with an air of pride, buffing her nails on her flannel for show. “I have successfully secured access to _exactly_ half of the Malachite bank balance _plus_ two of the five off-shore accounts. I also went and grabbed us some groceries and another few gallons of blood. Oh, and I stopped by that bar you like—The Ruby and The Sapphire?—yeah. I talked to the manager, Pearl I believe, and got your job back. And a raise. And flexible hours.”

Peridot laughed softly in complete surprise. “Holy heck!! What, did you kidnap Pearl’s entire family to get her to agree to those sort of terms!?”

“If I told you, that’d ruin the magic of it,” Lapis giggled, leaning back to rest her head in Peridot’s lap, carefully removing her laptop from the scene and setting it aside before crossing her arms behind her head. “But no… turns out they’re really getting a lot more business, so not only do they really need the extra help, but they can now afford to pay said help better than before.”

The vampire beamed down at her girlfriend, petting her hair softly. “Have I ever told you how much I love you…?”

“Not as often as I deserve to hear it…” Lapis pouted half-heartedly.

“Seriously though Lapis…” Peridot laughed again, the sound of it verging on nervous. “Thank you… I-I-I don’t know what else to say…”

“Then don’t say anything,” Lapis looked at the blonde expectantly. “Let’s go out tonight. Let’s go to a club. Let’s have drinks and go dancing and have fun!”

Peridot couldn’t help but smile at the sheer hope and anticipation gleaming in Lapis’ stormy blue eyes. “Yeah. Yeah, okay.”

Lapis sat bolt upright, eyeing her girlfriend in shock. “Wait…seriously..??”

“Well sure,” Peridot shrugged, taking the opportunity to seem the cool collected one for a change. “I’m meeting with Amethyst after sundown, but we can go afterward.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right,” Lapis commented matter-of-factly as she sunk back into the beanbag. “How’s she doing? Last I saw her she was more or less a raging bitch…”

Peridot rolled her eyes. “She’s fine. And she’s super grateful to you for dropping all charges of assault and trespassing that she got flagged for.”

Lapis shrugged. “What can I say? You lived, so there’re no hard feelings.”

Peridot cocked an eyebrow. “Oh really?”

Lapis frowned, all seriousness. “Yeah.”

“Then the silver bullets you bought off Amazon were just a total coincidence?”

Lapis glared at nothing in particular. “Pfft, just because I’m on perfectly fine terms with your psycho furry ex-girlfriend doesn’t mean I trust her whole mangy kind to leave us alone…”

Peridot sighed, amused but at the same time a little uncomfortable with the whole conversation. “So yeah… we’ll go out after…?”

Lapis sensed a touch of uneasiness in Peridot’s subject change, whole mood getting a facelift and brightening back up to excited smiles and cheerful eyes. “Yeah! It’ll be a blast!”

“In the meantime,” Peridot began mournfully, picking up her laptop from off the floor. “I’ve got an inhumane amount of schoolwork to get through…”

“Mind if I read here beside you..?” Lapis asked politely.

Peridot smiled warmly at her girlfriend. “I could think of nothing more perfect.”

Lapis grinned, jumping up from the beanbag and heading over to the bookshelf. “Good. Because there’s six more ‘Vampire Exclusive Turn-Ons’ that I’ve been waiting to learn all day long!”

With the sun long sunk behind the horizon and a dense cold settled into the streets and surrounding areas of Empire City, Peridot took her time walking through the blocks and intersections of the inner city, eyes dazzled by the neon lights of the nightlife seen through the tendrils of her warm breath taking to the air. Amethyst had wanted to meet at their old haunt, the run-down burger joint deep in the supernatural quarter. The walk was a long one from the college-town outskirts, but with three layers of shirt and jacket and winter coat keeping the chill out of the vampire’s bones, Peridot didn’t mind one bit. She tended to like the winter time, as winter was always so soft and dampened and considerably less bustling. Her walk on that mid-November night didn’t disappoint, the atmosphere feeling like a blanket swaddling her intensified senses, everything a little less jarring than she was used to it being.

She smelled the supernatural quarter of Empire City before she mentally realized she had walked so far, the singe of witchcraft crackling lively between the very molecules of the atmosphere, the musty bestial stench of were-creatures weighing thick in the air, the mentally-startling jolt of vampiric pheromones seeming to rush towards her, and the thousand other little peculiarities reaching her conscious awareness as Peridot continued on her way deeper into the quarter. Her shoulders crept up her neck as discomfort inched up her spine like the creeping feet of a spider. The way the shadows fell on the corners of the run-down brick buildings called up unsettling memories, the faint sound of a lighter hissing to conjure a flame enough to make her jump. Her feet sped up as fast as they could go without tapping into her heightened vampire speed, rushing to find her at the old abandoned theater by the boardwalk that boarded the supernatural quarter. She knew that the burger joint wouldn’t be long once the theater loomed into view with its faded and peeling gaudy paint job, bashed in windows, and stench of decaying drugged-up breathing corpses of lowlifes wafting through the propped doors like the rising tide.

The burger joint was the incandescently-glaring sore thumb amidst all the abonnement and outwardly abandoned-seeming, garishly cold lighting pouring out into the street from the floor-to-ceiling windows lining the front of the establishment, only made more obnoxious by the white and red tiled insides of the restaurant itself. The whole picture was deceivingly sterile for such a health-unconscious joint. Peridot crossed the dead-silent street from the theatre to the burger place, spotting Amethyst inside, the only customer. The vampire heaved the heavy glass door open, getting hit with a blast of AC as she entered despite temperatures outside. Something about the stagnant-hum of the light fixtures and the soft rattle of the ventilation system put Peridot at unease before she even got a read on her werewolf friend. When she locked eyes with Amethyst, it did very little to put the blonde back at ease.

“Hey Amethyst…” Peridot stuttered through teeth that began to chatter, her arms suddenly hugging to her person for either warmth or comfort; she wasn’t exactly sure which. “Mind if I join you..?”

“Yeah, go ahead,” Amethyst answered almost dryly, almost casually. The lack of any form of playfulness in her tone threw Peridot for a loop.

The vampire took her seat across from the werewolf at the tiny table, unable to help but recall how the two of them had sat in the exact same spot what seemed like an age ago in early-October. Circumstances had been so drastically different then. Peridot had lost ten pounds, gained five in muscle mass, and found herself a still-young but otherwise happy and healthy relationship. Looking at Amethyst, one would think the woman had lost her soul in a bad deal with the devil.

“So,” Amethyst began, folding her hands pointedly on the table. Her clawed, terrifying disfigurement of hands, that is. “You shacked up with that hunter bitch.”

Peridot hesitated, opening her mouth to say something placating; Amethyst spoke before the blonde had a chance to.

“Don’t try and deny it,” The woman snarled, though clearly reigning in her full fury. “I can smell her all over you. Fucking horny as hell.” Amethyst fixed Peridot with a glare, something loathing and devastated all at once. “You too, smelling like someone dumped a bucket of hormones on you…”

“The _hell_ do you care!?” Peridot snapped, learning quite quickly that she was in no mood to play into Amethyst’s little guilt-tripping ex-girlfriend persona. “What, I get myself a girl and _now_ you want to have me back at your place? Or was I supposed to come crawling back in a _rage_ of jealousy before then, with you and your new-lover-every-night bullshit!?!”

Amethyst sat back into her chair, posture rigid but hostility reigned in. “Well damn, P. You _are_ hormonal. And not the good kind..!” The werewolf motioned to her mouth, Peridot investigating her own mouth with her tongue to find her fangs unsheathed without getting noticed.

Peridot tried to formulate some sort of defense, but her mind was a jumble of disjointed angry thoughts, so she just shook her head and crossed her arms stubbornly; she found her tongue again when she mentally switched subjects.

“You said you had stuff to tell me. About your little coagulation of cults.”

“Yeah, well, you’re not going to like it is all…” The hesitation in Amethyst’s voice was utterly perplexing, until Peridot recalled that she had proven herself to be in a horrendous and frankly unpredictable mood.

“It’s fine,” the vampire huffed, barring her fangs in something of a half-snarl. “I’m not gonna freak. I’m under control.”

Amethyst nodded, leaning forward once more to rest her elbows on the table. “So… I kept your little _girlfriend_ under wraps, as requested… you’re welcome, by the way. It wasn’t exactly my favorite thing to do.”

Peridot rolled her eyes. “Get on with it.”

“Okay so… now that you know it totally wasn’t me… the gangs are more or less onto your girlfriend. They’ve already sniffed out a few other hunters lurking in Empire City and have gotten information out of them… all they have right now is something called _Malachite_ … but I wouldn’t underestimate them. They’ll get her name eventually. And then they’ll be at your door.”

“And just like when _someone_ showed up at my door _before_ , I’ll handle it.” Peridot gave Amethyst a dark look. “Except _this time_ , they won’t be someone I care about. Meaning there’ll hardly be shreds left of these cocky weres and vampires to cremate come morning.”

“Look, I _figured_ that’s what you’d say…” Amethyst gulped a little, Peridot picking up a wave of nervousness coming off of her. “That’s why I’ve got something else to tell ya…”

Peridot sat attentively, staring down the werewolf with no-nonsense eyes.

The werewolf checked the windows of the restaurant, then gave the back kitchen a quick once over before lowering her voice drastically. “Marty, that Blood Brothers leader guy… he said this hunt for the hunters went _beyond_ the regular scope of his gang… word is, he’s bringing in a _specialist._ An Old World vampire. I’ve heard the name Dezso tossed around. Some are calling them The Spider…”

Peridot forcibly sat back in her seat, heart beating deafeningly in her ears, mind having gone numb from too many thought trying to race through at once. “Coming… to Empire City..?”

Amethyst nodded. “Yeah… there seems to be a mixed reaction… a lot of the younger vampires seem excited, but a good handful of the older vampires… they’ve been awfully silent on the matter…”

Peridot hardly heard her friend speak, only a few phrases maintaining the unadulterated focus of her mind: Old World Vampire. Dezso. The Spider. Bringing in a specialist…

The disturbing memories the dark shadows playing in the alleys of the supernatural quarter had nothing on the sheer physical illness these few words wrenched through Peridot’s entire being.

Old World Vampire. Dezso. The Spider. Bringing in a specialist…

She was running to the bathroom and retching into a toilet in the blink of an eye.


	21. An End of An Era

Hey all!

 

So! It's been... a while. So I'm gonna be straight up with you guys. I've tried a few times to come back to writing this thing, but in truth, it hasn't happened and I doubt will ever happen. There were many reasons, but the most prominent was that I simply wasn't enjoying writing it anymore, which was a combination of my life taking many stressful twists and turns at the time, and the fact that the storyline had gotten out of hand. I had big plans, to say the least, but I realized that my plans were SOO big that there was no way I was ever going to fulfill them via the scope of a romance. So I quit while I was ahead. And I plan to stay quit.

 

But that's the bad news. Good news is, I'm putting up this "chapter" to provide some closure to my absolutely fantastic readers who deserve as much!! :) In the comments below, ask any questions about anything related to Blood Lust, and I will do my best to answer as thoroughly as I can! But not be afraid to ask those follow-up questions, too! There's no limit here! I want everyone leaving with a sense of closure.

 

 

Yeah, that's my announcement. Love you all, and sorry for letting you down <3

**Author's Note:**

> Hey buddies!! :D
> 
> If you want to supplement your knowledge of my personal Supernatural universe without spoiling any plot for yourself, go ahead and check out "The Science Behind the Supernaturals", a sort of encyclopedia written to explain how supernatural beings come about, function, and fit into society!


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